📋 Tender Overview
SBC-Peru and Sernanp have been implementing the use of satellite collars on spectacled bears in the Machupicchu Historical Sanctuary and the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge.Innovating in the conservation of Perus biodiversity. Since 2024, Spectacled Bear Conservation (SBC-Peru), in alliance with the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), attached to the Ministry of the Environment; They have been promoting the use of technology to expand knowledge and monitoring of emblematic wildlife species of our country.
Thus, a study of the dynamics of the spectacled bear, also called the Andean bear, has been promoted through the use of satellite collars in protected natural areas such as the Historical Sanctuary of Machupicchu (Cusco) and the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge (Lambayeque).
To this end, a total of 24 satellite collars have been placed on adult individuals of this species, as part of the project: Use of the spectacled bear habitat and its genetic diversity in the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge and the Machupicchu Historical Sanctuary.
All the collars allowed the movement and trajectory of these specimens to be recorded, however, 4 of these collars had a built-in video camera, which made it possible to record in unpublished images the daily life of the bears, as well as their relationship with other individuals of this species and their environment.
For the use of these implements, compliance with strict standards and protocols was ensured to guarantee that there would be no impact on the bears. In addition, all devices had an automatic release system that could be activated remotely, designed to allow the collar to be detached once the programmed use time had expired (52 weeks for conventional collars and 4 months for collars with a built-in camera).
The information collected by GPS collars is key and strategic for the management of these two protected natural areas. Among some of the data collected so far as part of this study, it has been identified that spectacled bears can spend up to 60% of their time in areas adjacent to the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge.
While in the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu, it was identified that male spectacled bears move in much broader areas than just the surface of this protected natural area, confirming the use of habitat shared with the Choquequirao Regional Conservation Area and other adjacent areas such as the La Veronica Sanctuary Private Conservation Area, the slopes of the Veronica snow-capped mountain and near Abra Malaga.
As part of this satellite monitoring, it is also possible to know precisely where spectacled bears move, which areas they use most frequently and at what times of the year they do so, as well as their key feeding and shelter areas, identify critical areas for the protection of the species and detect possible threats early.
For this reason, thanks to this information, conservation and education actions can also be prioritized in areas adjacent to protected natural areas, better control and surveillance points defined, and areas of interconnectivity and possible biological corridors identified, strengthening decision-making and effective management of the territory to ensure the conservation of the spectacled bear and its habitat.
About the spectacled bear
The Andean bear or spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only bear that lives in South America, distributed in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, being considered an endemic species of the tropical Andes.
In Peru, it is found in a wide variety of habitats located between 200 meters and 4,750 meters of altitude, which include deserts, dry forests, Andean grasslands, moors, montane forests, among others. It has been located in at least 30 protected natural areas of national administration.
The spectacled bear is key to the ecological balance of the ecosystem of the Andean cloud forest and the Maranon dry forest, both for its position as a top predator in the trophic pyramid, and for its capacity as a dispersing agent of a varied amount of seeds and as a pollinator by transporting pollen in its dense fur.
The data
The project: Use of the spectacled bear habitat and its genetic diversity in the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge and the Machupicchu Historical Sanctuary, is complementary to the monitoring of the species that SBC-Peru and Sernanp have been carrying out with camera traps since 2015 in the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge and since 2022 in the Machupicchu Historical Sanctuary.
