MAKE A GIFT TO PROTECT THE ONLY BEAR IN SOUTH AMERICA
Real-Time Conservation: GPS Collars Accelerate Bear Protection
As the day begins, Alexander More, SBC’s Executive Director, opens his computer and is astounded as the daily lives of ten spectacled bears unfold before his eyes. Every two hours, GPS data is transmitted from collars on bears in two of Peru’s most biodiverse protected areas, to a satellite, to the computers of SBC’s researchers. But Alexander grows concerned as the location points download onto the map. The yellow dots representing Kalea, a breeding-age female, are moving beyond the safety of the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary’s boundary towards the fields in a nearby village. And he knows that she’s not alone – Kalea has a cub.
Alexander alerts Machu Picchu’s park rangers who used the information to plan community visits and monitoring around the area to prevent potential conflict. This is just one example of how GPS collar data is accelerating conservation action for vulnerable bears.
With the mounting threats to bear habitat from expanding tourism and agriculture, wildfires, and human-wildlife conflict, time is not on our side. This is why GPS collars are a strategic investment in the bears’ future.
Kalea was the first bear SBC collared in Machu Picchu in May 2024. She is pictured here with her cub who we spotted in January as a young independent bear. 
This map shows Kalea’s movements to date in and around Machu Picchu The Challenge
Spectacled bears’ elusive nature and their vast habitat range present a conservation challenge. Between northern Peru’s Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge and surrounding forests and the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, SBC is working to conserve bears across more than 155,000 acres of habitat. This is an area larger than the city of Chicago. Finding bears is like looking for a needle in a haystack!
But to help them, SBC needs extensive data on bear health and habitat use to make effective conservation decisions.
Our Solution
SBC has been addressing this challenge head on for over 15 years with permanent camera trap networks throughout bear habitat and thousands of field days tracking bears. This approach takes many years to build the insights needed to develop science-based conservation actions.
However by deploying GPS collars on bears, we can reach this level of scientific understanding much faster. This is very good news for bears as threats to their survival grow.
What We’re Learning
GPS collars are programmed to automatically fall off after one year. During this time, we capture data on bear life across seasonal habitat use and through the reproductive cycle. Reproduction is one of the most important parameters for understanding population health. The collars also tell us the unique story of each bear.
Pachito is a 10 year old male 
Pachito ventured up into the mountains outside of Machu Picchu to an elevation of 4,450 m. This is one of the highest documented detections of a spectacled bear! With multiple bears collared at once, we quickly gain a deeper understanding of overall population dynamics. For example, how habitat use varies between males and females.
Merry (female) and Mogly (Male), are seen here digging for snails with their mother Maria in 2020. SBC deployed GPS collars on both of them in 2024 giving us a glimpse into their daily lives as independent bears. The time lapse video shows Merry and Mogly’s movements through the landscape.
Data on bear movements outside of the parks is particularly important because it flags potential locations of unprotected critical habitat. With this vital information, SBC, Peru’s government and neighboring villages can take collaborative action to safeguard these areas and ensure successful coexistence of people and bears.
Collar data shows bears are spending approximately 60% of their time outside of the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge (LWR). This highlights the importance of SBC’s collaboration with villages in bear habitat adjacent to LWR on community empowerment programs that help reduce risks to bears – education, veterinary outreach, wildfire prevention and our Felti alternative livelihood program.
The Stories Continue
As you read this, GPS collars continue collecting data that is revealing the secret lives of bears like Kalea, Pachito, Merry and Mogly and empowering us with the information we need to help them. Through 2025 and beyond, with each additional collar SBC deploys, we are accelerating conservation action and changing the future for spectacled bears in real-time.
