NEW SITE:
Napo, Ecuador
In our ANDES TO AMAZON ECOLOGY PROGRAM in Ecuador, students will help monitor and evaluate threatened spectacled bear and mountain tapir populations in the Andean highlands. They will also visit a local school and hike with a local guide from the indigenious Kichwa culture. Expanding from the Galapagos to mainland Ecuador builds upon our already strong relationship with Ecuador’ s national park system. Our existing connections, staff, and support structures mean that our students will quickly become part of significant conservation impacts in the region.
PRIMARY RESEARCH PARTNER:
Andean Bear Foundation
SPECIES PROTECTED:
Andean( spectacled) bears Mountain tapirs
PROJECT LOCATION:
Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve
STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
• Remote camera set-up, use, and photo collection
• Data collection to estimate range sizes & habitat use
• Cloud forest and sub-alpine grassland hikes
• Cultural excursions to learn about medicinal plants and traditional livelihoods
CONSERVATION STATUS: Vulnerable; fewer than 3,000 left in the wild
Name comes from the whitish / yellowish rings that encircle their eyes
SPECTACLED BEAR
Tremarctos ornatus
South America’ s ONLY bear species
THREATS: Destruction and fragmentation of habitat, hunting
CONSERVATION STATUS: Endangered; fewer than 2,500 left in the wild
Important seed dispersers that communicate using high-pitched whistles
KEYSTONE species of the high Andes and the smallest surviving species of tapir
THREATS: Habitat loss, illegal hunting
MOUNTAIN TAPIR
Tapirus pinchaque
ECOLOGY PROJECT INTERNATIONAL • WWW. ECOLOGYPROJECT. ORG • 406.721.8784