Rescued Circus Bear Enjoys the Simple Pleasures of Life Back in the Forest
Cholita is a ‘spectacled’ or Andean bear, an endangered species native to the region.
We can only imagine the horror that was life for Cholita the circus bear.
The cruel people who owned the endangered Spectacled bear (known as the “real life Paddington bear”) kept her in a small cage for years, cut off her toes, and clipped her teeth.
As a result of the pain, fear, and stress she felt under these conditions, poor Cholita lost all of her fur. Tragically, this is how this bear lived for over a decade. That is until Animal Defenders International (ADI) stepped in.
After ADI was able to arrange for Cholita’s release, she underwent a period of rehabilitation as she was severely malnourished and sickly from her life in a minuscule cage. Once she was strong enough, ADI transferred her to a safe enclosure located in the very forest that she had been stolen from as a tiny cub. Cholita has been living in this lush forest wonderland for a year now and she is doing so well!
Seeing the happy look on her face as she roams around the trees and stops in for a snack is sure to warm your heart!
The spectacled bear, also known as the Andean bear or Andean short-faced bear and locally as jukumari (Aymara), ukumari (Quechua) or ukuku, is the last remaining short-faced bear (subfamily Tremarctinae). Its closest relatives are the extinct Florida spectacled bear, and the giant short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.
Andean bears are the only surviving species of bear native to South America, and the only surviving member of the subfamily Tremarctinae. The species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN because of habitat loss.
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