A spectacled bear, famous in Colombia for having escaped from a zoo in 2022, died Wednesday during an air transfer intended to release it into the wild, environmental authorities said.
Tama, 11, was to be released in Tama National Park, on the border with Venezuela, where he was taken in as a baby after losing his mother and which gave him his name. But in a context of “unfavorable weather conditions” during the flight which transported him, he “showed signs of respiratory distress” and could not be resuscitated by the veterinary team which accompanied him on the plane, indicated the Colombian management of national parks.
The bear showed no health problems during medical examinations carried out before its transfer, this source said. The national parks organization had broadcast images of his transfer on social networks.
The Andean bear, also called the spectacled bear because of its characteristic mask, is the only bear species living in South America. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers it a vulnerable species. It is mainly threatened by the loss of its natural habitat, victim of deforestation.
Environmental authorities estimate that there are between 2,000 and 5,000 specimens in the country’s protected areas.
