The journey of the Andean bear Tupak to be free in Ecuador

Tupak, the andean bear who was rescued in Ecuador from an urban area where he was threatened by some residents after attacking their livestock, has been walking free since this week in his new home, a protected area of forests Andean mountains away from human beings, to which he was transferred in an operational complex with a helicopter.

The animal was waiting for more than three months in captivity at the Quito Zoo for the availability of a helicopter with enough power to carry its weight and rise above the Andes mountain range until it was released into the Cayambe Coca National Park, an area of more than 400,000 hectares that pass between the Andean mountains and the Amazon jungle.

This spectacled bear, named for the two light-colored spots that stand out on its face against the black fur, traveled sedated from the Guayllabamba Zoo, in Quito, carefully monitored by a team of veterinarians who monitored its vital signs.

Two weeks ago, on March 14, there was a first attempt to transport it to its new home, but the complicated meteorology of the Andes, with extremely changing cloud cover, meant that the aircraft did not have the necessary safety and visibility conditions to cross the mountain range. and had to abort the operation to liberate Tupak.

Second release in 13 months

For the animal, whose species is considered in danger of extinction, this situation is not new, since it was already rescued on the first occasion when it prowled and claimed the lives of several heads of cattle in the upper basin of the Pisque River, a populated area. from the province of Imbabura, in the north of the Ecuadorian Andes.

However, after his subsequent release in February 2023, he returned to the same area again and killed several cows, prompting residents to ask the authorities to take action.

“This constant interaction with people, crops and then livestock caused a change in their behavior. “He tolerated the people a lot and the people also tolerated his presence in some way, but over time it unfortunately caused some economic damage to the productive activities of the rural sector.”The biologist from the Prefecture of Imbabura, Andrés Laguna, explained to EFE.

This led farmers in the area to see him as an enemy, and in order for him not to return to the same place, now the objective was to take him to a much more remote area, in a larger natural habitat for him, so that he would not have the option of encountering areas populated by man and at the same time can interact with other specimens of its species.

“An imposing size”

Tupak is 4 years old, “He is a young adult and his imposing size and appearance generated a lot of fear”Laguna explained.

The animal was born in 2020, within the third generation of a subpopulation of Andean bears that live in the northeastern area of ​​the province of Imbabura, where until five years ago direct interactions of these animals with humans were not known, something that is now known. It has become common with the deforestation of Andean forests, among other factors such as climate change.

This new release operation was financed by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, with the support of technicians from the Prefecture of the province of Imbabura and the Andean Cóndor Foundation, who placed a tracking collar on Tupak that will allow us to know his location. daily for the next three years.

“It is a tracker that falls off only when it reaches its lifespan”the research president of the Cóndor Andino Foundation, Sebastián Kohn, explained to EFE about this device that sends its location up to four times a day using a GPS system.

The only option for Tupak

For Kohn, although the bear has also been fed by man in its previous home and had access to easy food, in its new habitat “He’s going to have to fix himself, because there is no other option for this bear.”

“This is not a bear that can be in an area where there are people because it will get into conflict and eventually they will kill it,” warned the researcher, who pointed out that “Unfortunately there are at least two other bears in that area (Imbabura) that are experiencing something very similar.”

During his stay at the Quito Zoo, its staff and technicians tried to ensure that he had as little interaction as possible with people, housed in a space outside of public visits, and with a special diet with plants typical of the forest of his habitat to Don’t lose that connection.

“The ideal was to make this transfer as soon as possible, so that they would not spend too much time being in these conditions. The sooner the better. Moving the animal early means a greater chance of success for it. In that, every day counts, and for us it was very important to speed up times in some way,” the director of the Quito Zoo, Martín Bustamante, told EFE.

“We coordinate between various institutions such as the Ministry of the Environment, the Prefecture of Imbabura and the Cóndor Andino Foundation, and we join forces to be able to make this transfer soon.”Bustamante highlighted.

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