The diminutive spectacled bear makes its home in the dense Andean jungles of South America, and it has the distinction of being the continent’s only bear.

Spectacled bears wear shaggy fur that is black, brown, or sometimes reddish. They are so named for the whitish to yellowish rings that encircle their eyes, resembling large eyeglasses. These lines, however, don’t always fully encircle the eyes, and some individuals lack the markings altogether.

Spectacled bears, also called Andean bears, are among the smallest members of the family Ursidae. Males, which are significantly larger than females, grow over 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 340 pounds (154 kilograms). Females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds (82 kilograms).

Intensely shy bears, they prefer the lush, isolated cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes, climbing as high as 14,000 feet (4,300 meters). They will descend to search for food though, and have been seen in widely differing habitats, from rain forests, to steppe lands, to coastal deserts.

Spectacled bears are generally nocturnal and are primarily vegetarian, harvesting fruit, berries, cacti, and honey. Highly agile climbers, they have been known to sit in a tree for days on a platform made of broken branches, waiting for fruit to ripen. They have extremely strong jaws and wide, flat molars to chew tough vegetation such as tree bark and orchid bulbs. Occasionally they will supplement their diet with meat, taking small rodents, birds, insects, and even small cows, making them the largest carnivores in South America.

Solitary animals, mature spectacled bears are normally seen together only during mating season. Females usually give birth to one or two small, helpless cubs, which are mobile after a month, but remain with the mother for up to eight months, often hitching a ride on the mother’s back.

Population data are sketchy, but some estimates suggest fewer than 3,000 spectacled bears may remain in the wild today. Their numbers suffer primarily from destruction and fragmentation of their habitat. Poachers also hunt them for their meat and body parts, and farmers kill them as agricultural pests. They are currently listed as vulnerable to extinction.

The Giant Anteater is the largest species of anteater. This large, hairy mammal lives in grasslands, savannas and open tropical forests in Central and South America.

The anteater grows to lengths of 1-2 m and reaches weights in the range of 25-39 kg. Long straw-like brown-black fur covers its body which grows to lengths of up to 40 cm on its bushy tail. It has a black and white stripe that runs along each side of its body.

Anteaters are edentate animals – they have no teeth. But their long tongues (60 cm) are more than sufficient to lap up the 30,000 ants and termites they swallow whole each day.

The anteater uses its sharp claws to tear an opening into an anthill and put its long snout and efficient tongue to work. But it has to eat quickly, flicking its tongue up to 160 times per minute. Ants fight back with painful stings, so an anteater may spend only a minute feasting on each mound. Anteaters never destroy a nest, preferring to return and feed again in the future.

The anteater’s front limbs are strong and provide some defence against its natural predators, the puma and the jaguar. Long, sturdy claws adorn its front limbs. When walking, the giant anteater protects these front claws by walking on its knuckles.

Little is known about the courtship and mating habits of giant anteaters. It is believed that males and females come together only to mate. The mother carries the young inside her for 190 days. The mother gives birth while standing and will use her long tail like a third leg for support.

At birth, the baby immediately scrambles onto its mother’s back. It has a complete coat of fur that is so similar in colour to its mother’s that the youngster is often difficult to recognize when it is with its mother. The mother suckles her young for about six months. During this time, the baby will cling to its mother’s back, although it is able to walk a month after birth. The offspring is slow to mature; it does not become independent until the mother is pregnant again and will not feed on its own until it is two years old.

The giant anteater and the other three species of anteater live only in Central and South America. The giant anteater is the most vulnerable species of anteater and is likely to become in danger of extinction in the next few years, unless measures are taken now.