398 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



the total length as about 3 feet in the original specimen, height 

 at the shoulder about 20 inches. Thomas's measurements for 

 the type specimen of the northern race are: Head and body, 

 1,625 mm.; hind foot with claws, 210; ear, 75; greatest length 

 of skull, 263 mm. (in one of the typical race, 231, a male in 

 each case); zygomatic width, 169 mm. (in typical race, 163). 



Various writers reiterate that very little is known of this 

 bear beyond the fact that it seems to be rare throughout its 

 range and is seldom seen or hunted. This fact and its restricted 

 range may warrant its inclusion among species in a precarious 

 situation. The specimen on which Frederic Cuvier founded his 

 description and of which he published a colored figure, was said 

 to have been brought from the Cordillera of Chile, and it 

 doubtless did come from that region, probably in northern 

 Chile. It is also known in Bolivia, where as well as in Peru, it 

 is called "hucamari" in the Quichua tongue. Krieg (1931) 

 mentions that it is reported from the Bolivian (?) Chaco, and 

 he obtained a skin from near Caraparisito. There it was said 

 to be exceedingly rare and very shy of men, though occasionally 

 accused of killing cattle. The individual exhibited in the New 

 York Zoological Gardens in 1911 was from near Quito, Ecuador, 

 and it seems likely that the center of abundance now lies in 

 southern Colombia, Ecuador, and parts of Peru. 



Osgood (1912, 1914), who made special efforts to learn 

 something of the habits of this bear, writes of securing an adult 

 female and wounding a male accompanying it, in the moun- 

 tains about 10 miles northwest of Menocucho, east of Truxillo, 

 northern Peru. The region inhabited by this bear is here 

 extremely arid and mountainous, with a scanty vegetation 

 consisting mainly of cacti and small thorny bushes. The 

 mountains range from 1,000 to 5,000 feet in height and are not 

 greatly different in character from the desert plain stretching 

 westward to the sea. The principal food of the bears seemed to 

 be a pear-shaped fruit with a hard outer shell enclosing numer- 

 ous seeds, a species of Capparis locally known as "chapote." 

 "The region is for long periods almost waterless and animal 

 life is very limited . . . From reports received from local 

 sources, it is evident that bears are fairly common in numerous 

 localities in the arid region." The two seen by Osgood were 

 feeding at midday in the full glare of the tropical sun, but the 

 natives advised that the early morning was the best time for 

 hunting them and they use dogs in the pursuit. 



