Project to free "Paddington" bears in Peru
( 2002-12-23 11:39 ) (7 )

Pepe, a Peruvian spectacled bear, eats a papaya in a new reserve near the famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu near the southern city of Cusco. Spectacled bears -- cousins of the beloved children's' character Paddington -- are the only breed of the world's eight species of bear that inhabit tropical regions of the Andes, and their survival has been under threat because of aggressive logging and hunting.[Reuters]

Breaking the stillness of Peru's thick green jungle, deep growls rumble forth from a cage that is draped in black plastic and houses a cousin of none other than Paddington, the fictitious bear beloved by millions of children around the world.

With a swipe of a paw, the black plastic is ripped away to reveal the black-and-white face of Pepe, a real-life spectacled bear, just like those that inspired Michael Bond's famous 1958 children's book "A Bear Called Paddington."

In that tale, a British couple at Paddington Station in London stumble upon and adopt a solitary, lovable young bear, just off the boat from what the author called "Darkest Peru."

Here in darkest Peru, a dozen men struggle under the anxious, 350 lb bear as they carry him to his new home, a special reserve just a stone's throw from Peru's most revered archeological site, and its chief tourist draw, the Inca citadel Machu Picchu.

Pepe has been brought to the bear sanctuary, on the ample grounds of a hotel near Machu Picchu, from a poorly equipped zoo where he spent the first 12 years of his life, in order to reunite him with his natural habitat.

Conservationists are hoping to set bears like Pepe free in the Machu Picchu historical sanctuary, an 88,000-acre swathe of protected forest -- with cloud-draped hills and rivers -- near Cusco, some 870 miles south-east of Peru's seaside capital, Lima.

Pepe is the third bear to call Machu Picchu home as part of a project sponsored by the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel Inkaterra, ecological group ITA, and Bear Rescue, a private British foundation.

According to Manuel Tirado of Bear Rescue, the project was born by chance when acclaimed British actor Stephen Fry, who starred in "Wilde," came to Peru last year to shoot a documentary about the original Paddington.

"We are not setting up a zoo. What we want to do is promote conservation and get the bears in a condition to be released at some point. But it looks like Pepe, since he's older, might have to stay (in captivity) indefinitely," said biologist Carmen Rosa Soto, who heads the project for Inkaterra.

Darwin Mendivil, Bear Rescue's head biologist, agreed. "Setting Pepe free will probably be impossible. The younger a bear is, and the less contact it has had with people, the easier it is to return him to his natural habitat. But we will certainly try," he said.

JUST 2,000 BEARS LEFT

Pepe's new home -- and an adjoining compound housing another pair of bears, Yogi and Paula -- is a cage complete with miniature caves and a small pond, nestled amid thick ferns and vegetation on hotel grounds.

Eventually, bears are to be moved to a nearby wooded area of 5 acres enclosed by an electric fence, project officials said. There, they will adapt to a more open environment and will learn how to forage for food as if in the wild until they are ready to be freed completely.

The spectacled bear is the only breed of the world's eight species of bears that inhabits tropical regions of the Andes. While its habitat stretches from Venezuela to Bolivia, experts say the bulk of the rare species' population -- some 2,000 animals -- lives in Peru.

But aggressive logging and the expansion of farm lands have encroached on the habitat of these solitary, nocturnal animals, which are primarily herbivores.

In Peru, the bear population has been culled due to popular beliefs that its meat makes men strong and that its fat can cure rheumatism. Its entrails are also used by witch doctors.

The bear earned its nickname from the whitish-yellow markings, which resemble eye-glasses, surrounding its eyes and on its chest. No two set of markings, which offset their black or brown coat, are alike.

In Venezuela, the bear is know as "frontino," referring to the Spanish word for forehead. In the native Andean language, Quechua, the bear is "Ukuku" -- "half man, half bear" owing to a legend in which a bear carries off a beautiful young woman and impregnates her.

Pepe's arrival at Inkaterra heralded not only a new phase in the conservation plan, but a new romance for the bear.

Pepe sniffed out the area and explored his cage before he ran into Paula, the five-year-old female who greeted him by curiously sticking her nose through the chain-link fence.

Paula, who was brought to Machu Picchu from a zoo eight months ago, was Yogi's faithful girlfriend -- until, that is, Pepe came to town.

Stretching out her snout for a bear-like kiss, Paula exchanged sharp murmurs -- which Mendivil says are sure mating signals -- with Pepe.

"What a flirt!" said Soto. "And poor Yogi -- he's depressed," she added, as four-year-old Yogi wandered back to his cave, seemingly downtrodden after being rebuffed in his attempt to mate with Paula.

YOGI RESCUED FROM HUNGER

Before he was handed over to the Machu Picchu project by INRENA, Peru's natural resources agency, Yogi was kept in a tiny cage in a mountain town. Malnourished and injured, he weighed just 100 lbs (45 kg). But he has bounced back, and now is a playful youth weighing 285 lbs.

After eight months and a year in the cage, project officials concluded Paula and Yogi were ready to be released in the compound enclosed by an electric fence. There, Yogi seemed nervous in his new environment, but Paula appeared to be right at home as she raced to the pool.

The Machu Picchu sanctuary is not the only protected area for spectacled bears in Peru. In Chaparri, some 480 miles north of Lima, seven bears are held in areas enclosed by electric fences. Another bear had two cubs after being freed.

Chaparri, whose reserve is funded by local and foreign companies, is also a site considered to be home to a mountain spirit, or "Apu," where shamans gather medicinal herbs.