Startseite Reproductive aspects of female Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in the Chingaza massif, eastern range of the Colombian Andes
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Reproductive aspects of female Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in the Chingaza massif, eastern range of the Colombian Andes

  • Adriana Reyes , Daniel Rodríguez , Daniela Rodríguez , Yeimy Castillo-Navarro , Hector Restrepo , Leidy Pardo , Oswaldo Salgado , Robinson Duque-Osorio und Nicolás Reyes-Amaya ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 17. Januar 2024
Mammalia
Aus der Zeitschrift Mammalia Band 88 Heft 2

Abstract

Knowledge of reproduction in wild Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) is scarce. Here we provide novel information about litter size, birth timings, courtship and multi-generational groups in a population in the Chingaza massif in Colombia. Pregnant females, mothers with cubs, estimated birth times, and litter size were registered through camera trapping of a population at the Chingaza massif (Colombia) between 2011 and 2016. A total of 34 independent records of reproductive female bears were obtained. Twenty-eight (28) different reproductive females were recognized by external key features. Six different females were recorded only pregnant, two others were recorded pregnant and later with cubs, and 20 others were recorded only with cubs. In total, 29 cubs were recorded in 22 litters, with a mean litter size of 1.27 (SD = 0.45): 16 litters with one cub, 5 with 2 cubs, and 1 with 2 cubs + a big cub from a previous litter (>1 year). The highest records of mothers with little cubs were obtained for the low rain season in December, January, and February, full of dry-season-fruiting Ericaceae shrubs. Likewise, the highest estimated births were obtained during the rainy time in June. Multi-generational groups and the courtship behaviors are reported for the first time in Colombia.

Keywords: bear cubs; courtship; litter size; reproduction; spectacled bear
Corresponding author: Nicolás Reyes-Amaya, Fundación para la Investigación, Conservación y Protección del Oso Andino (Fundación Wii), Calle 161, 12C-30, Bogotá 110131, Colombia; and Colección de Mamíferos, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH-M), CP154001 Villa de Leyva, Colombia, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the field assistants who, with their work, ensured that the images analyzed in this publication were obtained: Humberto Gomez, Freddy Saray, Javier Rodriguez, and Ricardo Gonzalez. Finally, the authors thank Jorge Servín for his valuable comments on the preliminary versions of this manuscript.

  1. Research ethics: All the procedures developed and carried out during this research are in accordance with the national laws of Colombia.

  2. Author contributions: Adriana Reyes and Daniel Rodríguez: conceived and designed the experiments, carried out the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed with analysis tools, wrote the document, prepared figures and/or tables, and revised the drafts of the document. Nicolás Reyes-Amaya: analyzed the data, contributed with analysis tools, wrote the document, prepared figures and/or tables, and revised the drafts of the document. Daniela Rodríguez, Yeimy Castillo-Navarro, and Hector Restrepo: carried out the experiments, analyzed the data and revised the drafts of the document. Leidy Pardo, Oswaldo Salgado, and Robinson Duque-Osorio: revised the drafts of the document.

  3. Competing interests: The authors of this research declare no conflicts of interest.

  4. Research funding: The funding for this research was provided by the “Corporación Autónoma Regional del Guavio (CORPOGUAVIO)”, the “Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá (EAB-ESP)”, the Nexen Petroleum Colombia Limited Company, and the “Grupo Energía de Bogotá (GEB)”.

  5. Data availability: The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary material. Raw data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Received: 2022-09-29
Accepted: 2023-12-13
Published Online: 2024-01-17
Published in Print: 2024-03-25

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Ecology
  3. Insights into surveying pangolins using ground and arboreal camera traps
  4. Reproductive aspects of female Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in the Chingaza massif, eastern range of the Colombian Andes
  5. Using photo by-catch data to reliably estimate spotted hyaena densities over time
  6. Review of ocular alterations in bats in America and notes on a new case for Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae)
  7. New dietary records for the rare Thomas’s Flying Squirrel (Aeromys thomasi, Sciuridae: Pteromyini) from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo
  8. A treetop diner: camera trapping reveals novel arboreal foraging by fishing cats on colonial nesting birds in Bangladesh
  9. First albino white-eared opossums in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil: records of albinism in Didelphis albiventris (Lund, 1840)
  10. Physiology
  11. Variation in leukocyte indices and immunoglobulin levels according to host density, sex, flea burden and tularemia prevalence in the common vole Microtus arvalis
  12. Evolutionary Biology
  13. Morphological symmetry of Rhipidomys mastacalis (Mammalia, Rodentia, Cricetidae) in fragmented habitats of the Atlantic Forest in Northeastern Brazil: a study on the influence of the environment on an endemic species
  14. Biogeography
  15. Brandt’s Hedgehog, Paraechinus hypomelas (Brandt, 1836), new to the mammal fauna of Iraq
  16. Taxonomy/Phylogeny
  17. Resolving the taxonomic status of Ctenomys paramilloensis (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae), an Andean nominal form from Mendoza Province, Argentina
https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2022-0112
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
bear cubs; courtship; litter size; reproduction; spectacled bear

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Ecology
  3. Insights into surveying pangolins using ground and arboreal camera traps
  4. Reproductive aspects of female Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in the Chingaza massif, eastern range of the Colombian Andes
  5. Using photo by-catch data to reliably estimate spotted hyaena densities over time
  6. Review of ocular alterations in bats in America and notes on a new case for Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae)
  7. New dietary records for the rare Thomas’s Flying Squirrel (Aeromys thomasi, Sciuridae: Pteromyini) from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo
  8. A treetop diner: camera trapping reveals novel arboreal foraging by fishing cats on colonial nesting birds in Bangladesh
  9. First albino white-eared opossums in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil: records of albinism in Didelphis albiventris (Lund, 1840)
  10. Physiology
  11. Variation in leukocyte indices and immunoglobulin levels according to host density, sex, flea burden and tularemia prevalence in the common vole Microtus arvalis
  12. Evolutionary Biology
  13. Morphological symmetry of Rhipidomys mastacalis (Mammalia, Rodentia, Cricetidae) in fragmented habitats of the Atlantic Forest in Northeastern Brazil: a study on the influence of the environment on an endemic species
  14. Biogeography
  15. Brandt’s Hedgehog, Paraechinus hypomelas (Brandt, 1836), new to the mammal fauna of Iraq
  16. Taxonomy/Phylogeny
  17. Resolving the taxonomic status of Ctenomys paramilloensis (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae), an Andean nominal form from Mendoza Province, Argentina
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