Armando Castellanos

Andean Bear Foundation · Large Mammals of Ecuador

This work was carried out after three months of rescuing wildlife within a flood zone in the San Marcos Lake, Cayambe-Coca National Park, Pichincha province, Ecuador. The objective was to identify, capture and relocate the largest number of non-flying mammal species that could be affected by the expansion processes of the San Marcos Lake, thus the...

Animals moving through landscapes need to strike a balance between finding sufficient resources to grow and reproduce while minimizing encounters with predators. Because encounter rates are determined by the average distance over which directed motion persists, this trade-off should be apparent in individuals’ movement. Using GPS data from 1,396 in...

The social behaviors of individual Andean tapirs Ecuador were studied over 12 years. The results suggest that mountain tapir are more social than previously understood, with family groups that include subadult calves which may disperse gradually over several years. A more comprehensive understanding of the behaviors, reproductive strategies, and ke...

This study reports movement patterns and home range estimates of an Andean fox ( Lycalopex culpaeus ) in Cotopaxi National Park in Ecuador, representing the first GPS-tagging of the species. The GPS functioned well during the 197-day tracking period. Home range sizes ranged between 4.9 and 8.1 km ² , depending on the estimation method. Movement spe...

Here we report movement patterns and home range estimates of an Andean fox ( Lycalopex culpaeus ) in Cotopaxi National Park, representing the first GPS-tagging of the species. The GPS functioned well during the 197-day tracking period. Home range sizes ranged between 4.9 - 8.1 km ² , depending on the estimation method. Movement speeds averaged 0.17...

Bears have fascinated people since ancient times. The relationship between bears and humans dates back thousands of years, during which time we have also competed with bears for shelter and food. In modern times, bears have come under pressure through encroachment on their habitats, climate change, and illegal trade in their body parts, including t...

We present a novel report of Tapirus pinchaque, widening its range of distribution to southwestern Ecuador.

An infection caused by the pantropic morbillivirus, canine distemper virus (CDV) is reported for the first time in and Andean Fox captured in the Cayambe Coca National Park.

One of the top carnivores in the Andean mountains is the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus, Ursidae), the only bear in South America. This is a flagship and key umbrella species in Ecuador because its conservation has a positive impact on the conservation of many other species in the Andes. But to preserve, first one must know the genetic characteris...

The systematics of the Humboldt’s wooly monkeys (L. lagothricha; Atelidae) is essential to preserve this Neotropical primate species. Traditionally, four morphological subspecies have been described, which recently have been molecularly confirmed. However, no population genetics studies have been carried out throughout the geographical distribution...

First report of Brucella canis in an Andean Fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in the Cotopaxi National Park Ecuador.

Esta guía es para investigadores locales, estudiantes, u organizaciones comunitarias (como ONG, que trabajen cerca o en áreas protegidas, universidades) interesadas en la conservación in situ del oso y la danta de páramo y de su fauna acompañante. Está diseñada en particular, para personas no especializadas con limitada experiencia en el monitoreo...

The threat of road-kill to Andean tapirs:

We sequenced mitochondrial genes ND5, 12s rRNA, and COI in 302 Andean or spectacled bears (Ursidae) from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Of this total, 294 of the bears were from the wild whereas the remaining eight were from zoos in Mexico, Argentina, France, and Switzerland. A subset of 127 individuals, representing the above fiv...

Our laboratory was the first in the world to publish molecular genetic data of the Andean bear (Ruiz-Garcia 2003, 2006, 2013, Ruiz-Garcia et al., 2003, 2005), especially with nuclear genes (microsatellites). Nowadays, we show the first global analysis with mitogenomics for the entire geographical range of this species. For this, we analyzed mitocho...

Very little is known about marking behavior of the endangered Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus). Here, we present a first detailed description of Andean bear marking behavior obtained using camera traps. From November 2012 to April 2013, we inspected 16 bear trails in the Napo province of eastern Ecuador, and installed camera traps (n = 3) at markin...

RESUMEN Se reporta por primera vez la presencia de huevos cestodos del género Flabelloskrjabinia Spasskii, 1951 en el tapir de montaña (Tapirus pinchaque) en condiciones naturales de los Andes de Ecuador. Palabras Clave: Cestoda, Ecuador, Flabelloskrjabinia, parásitos, tapir de montaña. First record of genus Flabelloskrjabinia (Cestoda: Anoplocepha...

We sampled 45 Andean mountain tapirs (Tapirus pinchaque) from Colombia and Ecuador and sequenced 15 mitochondrial genes (two rRNA and 13 protein codifying genes)—making up 13,939 base pairs, approximately 83.1% of the total mitochondrial DNA's length. The overall sample had low to medium levels of nucleotide diversity with diversity slightly higher...

We sequenced mitochondrial genes (COI, COII, Cyt-b) of accepted Latin America tapir species (Tapirus pinchaque, T. terrestris and T. bairdii) as well as an alleged new species, T. kabomani. The mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) is a relatively rare large mammal species. Some population censuses indicate that no more than 2,000 mountain tapirs are left...

In the rainforest, vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) have large mammals such as tapirs, deer, peccaries, cattle, monkeys, birds, and sometimes humans, among their victims (Albuja et al., 2012; Tirira, 2007). Vampire bats have been listed as carriers and reservoir host of rabies (Streicker et al., 2012; Corrêa et al., 2014). Here, we report photograp...

The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) is often perceived as a peaceful and quiet animal. This view has been re-enforced by domestication accounts that suggest mountain tapirs can be very docile and friendly after a relatively short time (Crandall, 1964; Gale and Sedgwick, 1968). However, wild tapirs are known to occasionally display aggressive beh...

Mountain Tapir Conservation in the Rio Papallacta Watershed and its Surrounding Areas, Ecuador

Mountain tapirs are one of the least studied of the large mammals. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the first radio telemetry studies were done on the species and huge gaps still exist in the literature regarding mountain tapir population dynamics. In light of recent technological advances in telemetry equipment, it was decided to execute the curre...

The home ranges and core areas of five female and four male Andean bears(Tremarctos ornatus) inhabiting the Intag region in Ecuador were estimated from a totalof 1,349 telemetry locations for females and 412 for males between September 2001 and December 2006.Multi-annual and seasonal home ranges were estimated using fixed kernel 95% analysis, and m...

Hematologic and chemical blood values are baseline parameters to evaluate thehealth status of a given captive or wild population. These parameters can also measurephysiological responses in the face of intrinsic or environmental stress produced bynatural or human interventions. Nevertheless, this is only achieved by comparing with thenormal values...

Se analizaron 115 muestras de oso andino procedentes de Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador yBolivia mediante 5 microsatélites (G1A, G1D, G10B, G10C, G10M, G10P, G10X, UarMu 50,UarMu, 59). Se detectó: (1) No existencia de equilibrio Hardy-Weinberg en ninguna de laspoblaciones analizadas en cada uno de los países, lo que evidencia la existencia de efectoWa...

I estimated home ranges of 5 female and 4 male Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) inhabiting the Intag region in Ecuador between September 2001 and December 2006, using 1,439 and 412 telemetry locations for females and males, respectively. Multi-annual and seasonal home ranges were estimated using 2 methods: minimum convex polygon (MCP) and nearest-...

We collected blood samples (n  =  49) from 43 Andean Bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in Ecuador between September 1995 and May 2006 and analyzed them for 11 serum biochemical and 13 hematological parameters. Results were grouped and compared according to the bears' life condition (captive or free-ranging), sex, age, and body mass. Free-ranging bears had...

We review the state of knowledge regarding conflicts between the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and livestock. Information was gathered from the current known geographic range of the species (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). Andean bears are perceived as livestock predators where herding is common; bears are frequently blamed for...

We review the state of knowledge regarding conflicts between the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and ?1 livestock. Information was gathered from the current known geographic range of the species (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). Andean bears are perceived as livestock predators where herding is common; bears are frequently blamed...

DNA samples of the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) from five Andean countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, were analyzed for nine microsatellite loci. Seven of them were polymorphic, which led us to investigate several population-genetic parameters. Private alleles and significant differences in gene frequencies were found...

On December 1995, the first South American release of three young Andean Bears (Tremarctos ornatus) to their natural habitat took place after a rehabilitation process at the Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador. The selected bears were two females and one male nicknamed as Chiquita, Tuta and Paddington. Of these bears, only two were successfully tracked...

Una propuesta de manual para el manejo en cautiverio del Oso Andino (Tremarctos ornatus) elaborada en un esfuerzo conjunto por varios profesionales con experiencia en esta especie en todo el continente americano.