Ivan Mauricio Vela Vargas

Para el equipo organizador del V Congreso Colombiano de Mastozoología es muy satisfactorio presentar este libro de resúmenes que recopila contribuciones sobre mamíferos de diversos países latinoamericanos. La activa participación en el evento, llevado a cabo en los llanos orientales, específicamente en Yopal, refleja el constante interés de la comunidad mastozoológica en encontrar espacios para la construcción colectiva de conocimiento sobre los mamíferos de Colombia y la construcción de comunidad y país.

El melanismo es una variación fenotípica caracterizada por un exceso de pigmentación oscura en la piel y pelaje de los animales, resultado de una mutación proteica. Este patrón de coloración se ha observado en diversas especies, incluidos los felinos silvestres. En este estudio, presentamos nuevos registros de melanismo en Leopardus pardinoides obtenidos mediante trampas cámara en la Cordillera Occidental de los Andes colombianos. Además, reportamos el primer registro de melanismo en esta especie documentado en la literatura científica para el departamento del Valle del Cauca.

The Andean white ear opossum (Didelphis pernigra, Allen 1900) is one of the three species of the genus Didelphis reported in Colombia. Here we present a systematic review of D. pernigra in Colombia, with a geographical and altitudinal distribution hypothesis from the country. We reported geographic records and scientific available information of D. pernigra in 40 studies, 55.26 % of the available literature corresponded to local and regional inventories; 23.68 % of other documents were studies about mammal assemblages, while 21.05 % were specific studies about the species and the genus Didelphis in Colombia. We classified literature according to the following subcategories: natural history, diet, inventories, threats, reproduction, uses and perceptions. Most of the literature corresponded to detection in inventories (55.26 %), followed by natural history information (21.05 %) and threats (7.89 %). Research about diet, uses, perception and reproduction, had the lowest proportion with 5.26 %. Regarding distribution, geographic records ranged between 1060 and 3740 m across the three Andean ranges of Colombia. In general, little is known about the ecology or natural history of the species, efforts should be focused on filling the information gaps about natural history, and surveys should fill the distribution gaps along the Western and Central ranges of Colombia.

Mammalogy Notes. Publicación de la Sociedad Colombiana de Mastozoología (SCMas)

The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only species of the Ursidae that inhabits the Andes in South America. The natural history of the species and health issues related to infectious diseases, particularly the presence of gastrointestinal parasites (GIP), is unknown. To determine the prevalence, infestation, and richness of GIP in fecal samples of wild Andean bears, 21 fecal samples were collected at different sites of the Chingaza National Park, Colombia, and its buffer area from February to April of 2019. Samples were analyzed by qualitative and quantitative coprological techniques. A minimum of one parasitic species was present in 100% (n = 21) of the samples and in 86% of them, co-infection was detected. In decreasing order, the observed parasite prevalence was as follows: 100% for Cryptosporidium spp.; 62% for Ascaris spp.; 38% for Baylisascaris spp.; 33% for Trichomonas spp.; 19% for Strongylus spp.; 14% for Microsporidia and Coccidian oocysts; followed by Trichostrongylus spp. and ciliated protozoans with 10%; and Ancylostoma spp., Blastocystis spp., and Fasciola spp. were present in 5% of the samples. The presence of Blastocystis spp., Baylisascaris spp., Ascaris spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. suggests a possible rotation of parasitic species between domestic and wild host species. This is the first report of GIP for Andean bears in the east range of Colombia, which could help to generate other studies in the country and South America.

Tremarctos ornatus (F.G. Cuvier, 1825) is a tremarctine bear commonly known as the Andean bear. It is a medium-sized bear with black to dark red-brown pelage with dense, long, coarse fur; creamy white marks occur on the chin, neck, and chest, and often white to creamy marks occur on the face, around the muzzle, and eyes. It is distributed in the tropical Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and northern Argentina in South America. T. ornatus is catalogued as “Vulnerable” (VU) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and is included in CITES Appendix I. Main threats include habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal killing, human–bear conflicts, and most likely climate change.

Two iconic and charismatic species that inhabit the northern Andes of South America are the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and the Mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). Both species can be found sympatrically in several areas of Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru. Despite their overlap in distribution, little is known about interactions between both species, with few reported cases of Andean bear attacks on the Mountain tapir. Here, we report a possible attack by an Andean bear on a Mountain tapir in the northern part of Puracé National Natural Park, Colombia based on strong wounds and marks on a tapir’s back and rump. The wounds match typical attack patterns generated by Andean bears and corroborates previous camera traps records of bears attacking tapirs in this locality.