A team of wildlife ecologists at Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica, Peru, has managed to record four months of previously undocumented natural behaviors in Andean bears using camera collars.
Andean or 'spectacled' bears are considered vulnerable on the Threatened Species List, predominantly due to human poaching and habitat loss.
In a study published in the journal, Ecology and Evolution, researchers document what they learned from a bear they affectionately named Chris.
The researchers attached a camera collar to Chris, which made them privy to many behaviors previously unobserved, including mating on a specially made treetop platform as opposed to the forest floor, and snacking on stinging nettles.
Chris was also caught on camera eating a woolly monkey, which was the first documented instance of an Andean bear eating a primate, and also at one point a baby bear, the only evidence of infanticide in the species. He was also found to enjoy eating clay, also known as geophagy, as well as other dietary firsts.
Describing Andean bears as a “poorly studied species” the researchers say that the essential data they recorded on the camera collars “has elucidated numerous avenues warranting further investigation.”
The study also said, “We expected that the camera would record intraspecific and interspecific behaviors, which are extremely challenging to gather from static camera traps and direct observations, especially in such a challenging landscape.”
One of the limitations the study highlighted was the high costs of the camera collars. However, the researchers argue that collar cameras are cheaper in the long run.
“While many researchers might be deterred by the alarmingly high upfront costs of the collars (~$5000 / unit vs ~$2000 for a traditional GPS satellite non-camera collar), when you consider the true capture costs of an animal (field staff and veterinarian salaries, field station costs, and other field logistics), which could easily amount to well over $30,000 with a team of four trained staff in a remote field station for 3 months, then the $3000 difference between collar types might not seem so off-putting, especially given the added value from information that can be derived from the collars.”
Despite the incredible data collected by the collars, the researchers also highlight one “major limitation… the lack of ability to gather data beyond daylight hours.”
The study states, “Despite current battery consumption limitations, however, it is likely that infrared LED technology and battery advances will soon be able to tackle such barriers in years to come and allow researchers to gather a more complete insight into the lives of animals that are active during both day and night.”
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