Human-Bear Conflicts, Gold Mining, and Other Threats Endanger Andean Species, but Conservationists Respond
“Human-wildlife conflicts are significant, as the bears destroy corn and avocado farms and kill cattle, prompting retaliatory hunting by farmers.”
The Andes is host to diverse ecosystems, including cloud forests, páramo grasslands, montane valleys, and shrublands, supporting a wide range of species. Spanning over three million square kilometers with a peak elevation of nearly 7,000 meters, its mountain range extends across South American countries, including Peru, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
However, the region faces multiple threats to its biodiversity and the Amazon Basin’s hydrological cycle, which could disrupt ecosystems if not addressed. Species such as the Andean cat and yellow-tailed woolly monkey are already endangered, while others like the Andean Bear remain vulnerable. Key threats include climate change, which forces species to higher elevations, gold mining, human-wildlife conflicts, limited resources, and insufficient environmental education.
In this interview, Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, a biologist at Conservación Amazónica (ACCA) and a National Geographic Explorer, speaks to The Habibat Project about the region’s challenges and her team’s efforts to sustainably conserve its resources alongside local communities, particularly from her perspective as a native Quechua. Now working in Peru from Costa Rica, Pillco’s conservation work protecting species like the Andean bear (spectacled bear) and dwarf deer (Mazama chunyi) has earned her accolades, including the 2025 Future for Nature Award, presented on May 16, 2025.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity).
Please tell us about yourself and your conservation work in Peru.
I grew up in a small Andean town near Cusco, surrounded by nature, with farmer parents. Curious about creatures, I studied biology despite my parents' preference to pursue medicine. Afterwards, I worked with communities in lowland rainforests, studying insects, plants, and birds, then returned to Peru from Costa Rica in 2021 to research Andean bears in cloud forests. I love the Andes, and it is vital to the Amazon Basin’s water cycle and home to incredible species. I’m a shy person but driven by adrenaline, so I lead expeditions with a diverse communal team. I had mentors, so I aim to mentor the new generation to build ambassadors for conservation.
How would you describe the current state of the tropical Andes, and which species are most threatened?
The tropical Andes in the Southeast of Peru is a biodiversity hotspot, which is crucial for the Amazon Basin’s water cycle; some of the cycle processes involve transpiration from the Atlantic Ocean, wind pushed to and fro the Andes, a mountainous area with trees covered in mosses and epiphytes, and capturing-and-releasing of moisture via sponges. The Andes hosts over 200 orchid species, 250 bird ones, and 200 tree species between 500–3500 meters of mountain elevation. Despite its diversity, it is a threatened area facing deforestation, [illegal] hunting, and climate-change effects in lowlands, and fires, cattle grazing, and agriculture at higher elevations. The temperature increase pushes species upward, squeezing the Andes from top and bottom pressures, like a sandwich, and endemic species like the Andean bears and dwarf deer are vulnerable from these threats.
Can you explain the causes of the vulnerability of the Andean bear further?
Andean bears have vast home ranges, from Peru and Venezuela to Bolivia, including páramo and lowland rainforests, but are vulnerable because of deforestation and habitat loss across their ranges. Human-wildlife conflicts are significant, as the bears destroy corn and avocado farms and kill cattle, prompting retaliatory hunting by farmers. Historically, they were also hunted for medicinal purposes, because of local myths that attributed consumption of their blood and fat to strength equal to the bears’, though this has decreased. Climate change and the loss of their primary cloud forest habitat further threatens their survival.
What are the solutions to these problems?
An ideal solution will be one where humans and the bears can coexist successfully. Large, protected, and connected areas, horizontally and vertically, are crucial for Andean bears, who need 100 to over 300 square kilometers [of range]. In Peru, the protected areas help, but collaboration with locals and governments is highly required. To reduce conflicts, we may promote growing crops like golden berries over corn [around their habitats], which bears avoid, and encourage fencing cows near villages. Raising awareness about bears’ role in seed dispersal in strengthening forest biodiversity, amid the absence of big mammals like monkeys or tapirs in the Highland of the tropical Andes, is important. Crop production by the local communities is additionally affected by the changing climate, because Peru is diverse and we have thousands of potato and corn varieties, which grow at different elevational gradients [of the Andes]. Migration of bears further upwards is also facilitated by climate change. I think human-wildlife conflict is going to increase with climate change, so we need to start thinking about resilience, sustainable alternatives, and the top parts of the elevation, which will become refugia for everything migrating upwards.
What have you discovered so far about the dwarf deer (Mazama Chunyi)?
Not much yet. The dwarf deer are rare, only seen on camera traps and poorly understood; we know little about their diet or habitats, only references from museums. We’re researching the dwarf deer to understand their role [in the ecosystem]. We know they are tiny and feed on ferns and some other plants, known from footage from our camera traps in the valleys. We plan to use GPS collars to study their movement patterns and safe habitats. We need to understand their ecology, their predators like foxes or pumas, and their competition with the white-tailed deer. Getting the resources to conduct research in Peru is difficult, but understanding their ecology is key to building conservation models and strategies to protect this species.
How will the Future-for-Nature funding help your research?
The Future-for-Nature funding will buy us more equipment, allow us to hire researchers, and help me build a scientific community of locals to better understand what goes on here. In Peru, resources are scarce, so this support is critical for researching rare species in remote areas. I am very glad that the Future-for-Nature Award trusts us to do this research.
What other challenges have you faced in your conservation work?
Funding is a big deal. Also, initially, it was challenging working with the locals, who viewed us as ‘enemies,’ fearing land grabbing, but building trust turned them into our allies. Another challenge is the harsh terrain of the Andes mountainous area, which makes fieldwork challenging and finding team members who want to work in such remote areas difficult. Climate change remains a persisting generic challenge too.
How do you manage partnerships with stakeholders like the government, community leaders, and other organizations?
I will say that I am only just building myself in that area. Trust is important. As a native Quechua, I speak and connect easily with the communities, understand the culture, and this makes it easy for me to communicate with them. We engage community leaders, speak to them about our wants, and listen to their needs, fostering two-way communication. The National Park lacks resources and needs allies, so we share, since our goals are aligned on environmental education and protection. Gold mining pressures on the communities are increasing with exaggerated financial promises to the locals, challenging our conservation, so I advocate for better payment policies from the Peruvian government for ecosystem services, like Costa Rica’s, to incentivize land and species protection.
Are there other projects you’re working on that you’d like to talk about?
As a scientist my work focuses on three areas: research, environmental education, and community engagement. So, we have a program called “Conservation Ambassadors” that brings schoolchildren to the Wayqecha Biological Station, our base, to reconnect with nature to counter technology-enhanced disconnect. “Wayqecha” is a Quechua term meaning “friend” or “brother,” symbolizing connection. For our community work, we restore degraded lands and water sources impacted by fires and agriculture. Our program empowers communities to resist threats like mining and deforestation, ensuring that they take the right decisions.