Abstract 28 – Conservation of the Elusive Andean Bear in Inquisivi and Quime region, Department of La Paz, Bolivia.

Viviana Albarracín

From April 2021 to April 2022, we conducted surveys along field routes established in 20
quadrants of 16 km2 each. Our sampling effort was concentrated on ridges and paramo. The routes were
georeferenced, as well as the location of each sign detected, to set camera-trap stations. We
found bear sign in each of 10 studied quadrats. A particularly large number of sign locations
associated with feeding events were found in the paramo. We observed differences in the
signs found in the cloud forest by season and altitude. The presence of bears seems to be
influenced by the fruiting season of certain species, particularly at lower altitudes in the portion
of the clouded forest, coinciding with the start of the rainy season We reported 18 new records
of bear sign, and once those were obtained we set several camera traps in 2022 in an area that
the project is promoting to consolidate as a possible Municipal Protected Area and Integrated
Management Natural Area. This proposed protected area includes clouded forests and Andean
paramo, which could be a key addition to Andean bear habitat since this project confirmed the
presence of bears during the wet and part of the dry season in the area.