Behavior

image courtesy of wildanimalpark.co.uk

Spectacled bears are generally nocturnal, feeding and traveling at dawn and dusk. They often spend their days in tree nests that are constructed as a platform to sleep in. Their long claws make them excellent climbers. Spectacled bears do not hibernate because they live in a warm climate where food is available year-round. Little is known of the social behaviour of spectacled bears in the wild, but they are thought to be solitary except for mothers and their cubs. In captivity, females and their cubs use special calls to communicate, using two and five types of calls respectively.

Female spectacled bears reach sexual maturity between four and seven years of age. They have a variable mating season. Mating can occur in April, May, and June, and pairs stay together for a week or two, with copulation occurring numerous times. Litters of one, two, or occasionally three cubs (usually two) and are born from November to February, which is summer in South America. The cubs are born helpless and blind, but by the time they are a month old they are able to travel around the forest with their mother, often by riding on her back.