Judith Figueroa

Revisión de la dieta del oso andino Tremarctos ornatus (Carnivora: Ursidae) en América del Sur y nuevos registros para el Perú

Andean bear Tremarctos ornatus (Carnivora: Ursidae) diet review in South America and new records to Peru. In order to update the knowledge of the species recorded in the diet of the Andean bear (Spectacled bear) in its geographic range (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia), we collected and ana- lyzed the published information about the issue in 76 documents as well as fieldwork obtained in nine protected areas of Peru and interviews in six additional natural areas in the same country. In field work we identified 114 vegetal species consumed by the Andean bear, of which 69 were new records to Peru and 51 to South America. Additionally, we obtained from interviews 35 species, of which 19 are new records to Peru and 12 to South America. Taking into account the literature review, fieldwork and interviews, it was recorded as part of the vegetable diet of the Andean bear a minimum of 305 especies/83 families, which corresponded to a moss/one family, a hepatica plant/ one family, five ferns/three families and 298 superiores plants/78 families; some fungi species and one lichen species. Families with greater frequency of occurrence were Bromeliaceae (leaf bases and cortex), Arecaceae (stems stipes) and Poaceae (stems and buds), however, overall, the fruits were most recorded with 179 especies/55 families, fol- lowed by stems with 143 species/27 families. The vegetable diet included 17 species of crops. Furthermore, the mini- mum number of animal species consumed by the Andean bear was 34, which included 22 mammals (and a hybrid: mule), one bird, nine insect, an annelid and one mollusk; among mammalian species were recorded eight domestic species, which included carrion, however animal consumption was less than 10%.