Between 2020 and 2021, a diagnosis of Andean bear occupation patterns in the Central Cordillera and in the Nevados-Puracé-Doña Juana CCU was carried out.
Through this diagnosis, 404 localities of 1 square kilometer were visited. With this, a total of 593 kilometers were traveled in search of traces of Andean bear presence.
The biological diagnosis showed that bears have a medium-high occupancy probability of 61 percent throughout the Core Conservation Unit.
Forest cover has a positive effect on bear presence, as does the distance from roads. This means that the greater the area of natural habitat—and the farther that habitat is from roads—the higher the probability that Andean bears will occupy that space within the CCU.
Through the conflict landscape assessment for the Andean bear, more than 170 properties were visited across the conservation unit. This characterization revealed that in the Nevados–Puracé–Doña Juana CCU, negative interactions with the bear are frequent, with over 60 records of attacks and/or consumption of domestic animals in different localities.
Additionally, the bear has been perceived negatively throughout the landscape.
Based on these results, five localities were prioritized for the implementation of management actions aimed at reducing natural habitat loss and carrying out restoration efforts. These localities were distributed from the south to the central-northern zone of the Central Andes and included: La Cruz (Nariño), Puracé and Sotará (Cauca), Santa María (Huila), Buga and Palmira (Valle del Cauca), and Génova and Pijao (Quindío).
Traslated with AI support