Diego Lizcano, Jose F. González-Maya, John Koprowski

The Chingaza Massif of Colombia is one of the most important core areas for Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) conservation. This high-altitude complex includes the Chingaza National Natural Park (Ch-NNP), which is not only crucial for Andean bear conservation, but the massif is also the principal source of drinking water for Bogotá, the largest city and economic center of Colombia. During Covid-19 pandemic, Ch-NNP was closed for tourism and reduced stress on sensitive biological groups such as bears. We conducted a camera-trapping study to assess the occupancy patterns of the Andean bear at the Chingaza Massif, which was performed during the COVID-19 lockdown established by the Colombian government, presenting a unique opportunity to assess occupancy in the absence of human activities at the Ch-NNP and its surroundings. In order to estimate occupancy patterns of the Andean bear, we applied a Bayesian single-species framework to estimate occupancy patterns as a function of landscape and random effects models for the evaluation of Covid-19 lockdowns. We found that COVID-19 post-lockdowns at the Chingaza massif were positively related to higher occupancy rates of Andean bears inside the protected area and its surroundings, promoting movements in landscapes that bears did not normally use. NDVI presented negative effects on occupancy, and increased distance to towns had a moderate positive effect on occupancy. Detectability of the species was explained by the decrease in distance to human infrastructures. Low occupancy areas are close to ranching and agriculture areas, reinforcing the idea that Andean bears avoid human populated areas prefering remote areas such as paramos where humans are absent. Detectability of the species is related to human infrastructures presenting potential negative Human-Andean bear interactions. With the decrease of human traffic or anthropause, we present the first report of how Andean bear occupancy patterns were affected by Covid-19.