Javier and John in Peru. Photo: Robyn Appleton
In November of 2008, I traveled with Joe Pontecorvo, our filmmaker, co-founder and a director of Wildlife Media, to Robyn Appleton’s research site in the tropical dry forest of northern Peru. She had discovered a small but previously unknown population of the rare Andean (spectacled) bear.
The site is a dusty one and a half hour ride from the coast, located in rocky and scraggly foothills. The climate is hot and arid, with scarce rainfall and temperatures often above 100 degrees F. The terrain is rugged, with steep twisting ravines, and low scrubby vegetation. It hardly seemed like a habitable environment for a bear species.
Tucked here and there in the ravines were depressions in the rock that held small water holes. We traipsed up and down the ravines for almost a week, from water hole to water hole, trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive bears. We were guided by Javier and Jose Vallejos, a father-son team from the local village who work closely with Robyn to learn more about these bears in an effort to protect them from extinction through predation and loss of habitat. Only on the very last day, shortly before having to leave, was Joe able to capture some film footage of a female bear visiting one of the water holes. It was very exciting after the long wait.
We learned that, through Robyn’s work, the local village is proud of and supportive of the bear population in their area. And they were very appreciative of the anti-poaching fence and gate that they were able to install with a small contribution from Wildlife Media. A small amount of money goes a long way there. Our contribution of $1,000 allowed them to complete a fence and double wrought iron gate to keep poachers out of their community-controlled valley, and access to the foothills where the bear population resides.
I am very hopeful that Wildlife Media can raise the funds necessary to send our film team to Peru this upcoming January. We’d love to bring to the rest of the world some stunning footage of this elusive and charming bear.
John Taylor, Wildlife Media Co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board.
