- Every Tuesday, Mongabay will bring you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our new show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting the animal that is at the origins of the beloved children’s book: Paddington Bear.
The spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is endemic to the tropical Andes and has garnered the attention of people across the world for its spectacle-like markings on its face. Unfortunately, today the bear lives in only 42% of its historical range mainly due to poaching and habitat destruction from forestry and agriculture. Due to this, the bear is listed as Vulnerable. Watch the video to learn more about this species!
Special thanks to WWF-Peru for sharing the camera trap videos from the Peruvian cloud forests.
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Banner photo by HumbRios via Wikimedia commons
Romi Castagnino is Mongabay’s bilingual writer. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @romi_Castagnino
