Numbers:

Around 2,000 left in the wild, today the Spectacled Bear is another endangered species. Listed as Vulnerable by IUCN and on Appendix 1 of CITES.

Found:

The only breed of the world's eight species of bears that inhabits tropical regions of the Andes. While its habitats stretches from Venezuela to Bolivia, experts say the bulk of the rare species' population lives in Peru.

Habitat:

Spectacled Bears are most typically found in the mountainous forest regions of South America in a variety of habitats including grasslands, brush, rainforests, dry forests, costal scrub desert and cloud forest at altitudes ranging from 250—4,000 meters above sea level. They are excellent climbers and spend a great portion of their time in high tree branches or on platforms constructed, for resting and feeding, from branches and leaves...

Worldwide only 18% of Bear habitat is legally protected in parks and reserves however lack of enforcement means even these parks are under threat from colonists and extractive industries - like mining. Peru has more than 30% of the world’s habitat for Spectacled Bears and 20% of the parks but only 2 which are big enough to support Spectacled Bear populations.

The Story... Starts with Yinda a female Spectacled Bear that was raised by the family who found her as a 3 month old cub alone in a cornfield in Peru. Illegal in Peru to keep wild animals privately Yinda was to be, at 15 months, confiscated by the conservation and wildlife authorities and re-homed in a zoo. Heinz Plenge (a Peruvian Wildlife photographer) and Bernie Peyton (a bear biologist) well aware of the lack of high standard facilities for confiscated Bears in Andean countries where the capacity of the few good ones is completely exhausted and standards in the others low with enclosures overcrowded, offered to take custody of Yinda and create a facility.

The Problem(s):

• Hunting this Bear is hunted for its meat skin and fat. Hunted because locals believe they will attack their livestock - yet they do not eat meat in great quantities. They have a liking for corn and as well as getting shot when raiding farms they are often harmed by the pesticides/poisons farmers use to protect their crops.
• Oriental medicine Gall bladders are valued and fetch a high price on the International market - currently $150 which is 5 times the monthly wage in Ecuador.
• Performing Daria is just one of the Bears in Chaparri who suffered numerous Tortures and mutilations in the course of her circus training. As a result she has no canines, a broken jaw and broken nasal septum - this gives her trouble breathing and she doesn't half snore. It also means it will be impossible to return her to the wild. 
• Habitat loss in all Andean countries the habitat of the Spectacled Bear is being increasingly fragmented through logging and expansion of farm lands. Wild Bears confronted with a shortage of natural foods intrude and raid cultivated areas. In the best cases the Bears are driven away but too often are killed and the cubs taken home and kept as pets.

The Solution - Chaparri...

Find a community which owns the land it is on in an area where Spectacled Bears live and create a conservation-minded society that through conservation and management of natural resources will result in protection. Santa Catalina de Chongoyape, approximately 480 miles from the country’s capital Lima, was just the place. The coastal dry forest around Chaparri is used by Spectacled Bears; the 2000 villagers have legal title to 42,000 ha ranging from desert land up to cloud forest 1700m above sea level, and is where the first privately created reserve is located.