Andean bears are one of the most emblematic and elusive mammals found in the highlands and cloud forests of Ecuador.   The scientific knowledge generated has lead to the creation of the Andean Bear Corridor in the Northwest of Quito, and to the recognition of the bear as the emblematic mammal of the city of Quito. The surroundings of Quito provide different opportunities to find wild bears and other emblematic fauna with good chances of close encounters. Bears can be found in the cloud forests and paramos (highlands) around the District of Quito. However, because of the dense vegetation in cloud forests, the encounters are difficult and depend on the availability of a special fruit in a private reserve and the surroundings (two months every year, no season pattern); or hiking to areas where researchers have deployed camera traps for monitoring the bear populations: exciting, but time- and physically demanding.
It is  in the paramo, north east of Quito where, in few days, you can increase your probabilities of a great encounter with bears and other Andean wildlife, sometimes close enough to have wonderful views and photographs.

The area to visit covers the surroundings of two national parks with special natural feeding sites where the presence of bears is frequent all year around.  The paramo is rich in important  food sources for the bears’ mostly herbivorous diet; Puya sp. is pretty abundant  in this ecosystem also covered with grasslands, small bushes and elfin trees. The area has a system of roads and trails of varying difficulty, allowing us to cover big extensions of territory in short time. Other wild mammals that may be encountered during the tour are: Andean Fox, White tailed Andean deer and the Andean Tapir. A visit to the cloud forest is the perfect complement in this journey, with chances of seeing the newly described Olinguito at Bellavista Reserve,  Kinkajoo,  and Tayra among other species. All the habitats you will visit during the tour, paramo and montane humid forest are important ecotypes that need to be preserved.