Real-life Paddington bears facing extinction after being hunted for private parts – and now charities are taking action

AT the start of his new movie, marmalade-loving bear Paddington gets into bother reaching for an orange hanging on a tree.

But the real grizzly he is based on faces far greater dangers.

The adored fictional character, created by late British author Michael Bond, was inspired by the spectacled bear that lives in South America.

They also have different colour markings on the nose and around the eyes like Paddington, so they look like they are wearing glasses.

And they share his playful, inquisitive nature — going to extraordinary lengths to grab grub or cheekily tugging on cameras monitoring them in the wild.

However, spectacled bears are endangered due to multiple threats, including hunters killing them for their private parts, claws and body fat.

One particular breed could even be extinct in the next three decades, experts have warned.

Worryingly, there is an illegal trade in spectacled bears — also known as Andean bears — with the reclusive creatures being sold to Asia and by shamans in South America.

But the biggest threats come from the man-made forest fires that have ravaged Peru this year and farmers killing the bears for eating cattle and corn.

Climate change is also reducing the number of trees bearing berries and other fruits that form 90 per cent of the animals’ diet.

The Spectacled Bear Conservation society is devoted to saving the endangered creatures in Peru, where Paddington is from.

And as the duffle-coated kids’ favourite returned to cinemas on Friday in Paddington In Peru, starring Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas, the non-profit body reveals one breed native to the forest in the north of the country could be extinct in the next 28 years.

Huge demand for paws

Alexander More, SBC’s executive director, says: “There are illegal hunters in these areas.

“There are still some people that even hunt the bear because they want to use parts of the animal.

“There are some illegal markets for that, Asian markets.

"But the main threat is that people are killing the animals because they want to protect their lands, their crops.

“The habitat has been reduced this year because of all the fires in Peru that have been started by humans.”

The spectacled bear is the only surviving species of bear native to South America.

According to the IUCN Red List for threatened species, they are vulnerable to extinction and there could be as few as 2,500 mature bears left in the wild.

It is estimated 200 are killed by hunters every year.

The World Wildlife Fund warns that the gall bladders of these “peaceful” animals can “fetch a high price on the international market” — and that there is also huge demand for bear paws.

An investigation by National Geographic in 2019 found a woman in Chachapoyas, in the Amazon region of northern Peru, selling a drink called Seven Roots, containing scrapings from the spectacled bear’s penis bone.

The disgusting-sounding brew, also containing a snake’s head, rum and tree bark, falsely claimed to help cure impotence.

Other traders were selling “bear butter” and “bear rub” made from the animals’ fat, supposedly to alleviate muscle pain and other problems.

However, there is no evidence that any part of the bear provides the health benefits advertised.

Spectacled bears are skilled climbers that live in trees.

This year, huge damage was done to their habitat by forest fires which affected most areas of Peru, killing 15 people.

The worst-hit region was in the north, on the border with Ecuador.

Prolonged dry weather, along with farmers burning vegetation to clear land for more crops, sparked many of the blazes.

SBC boss Alexander, who was born in southern Peru, explains: “There are cattle ranchers everywhere.

"This year, the fires were huge in our area.”

The destruction of plants and trees led the bears to seek out food closer to humans, which created further problems.

Alexander continues: “With more pressure on the habitat, the bears have come close to the villages.

“And they have encounters with people, and they feed on cattle, because bears are carnivores.

"So that creates a kind of bad relationship.”

But spectacled bears do not kill humans.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, they are “the least aggressive of all bear species” towards people.

Instead, these shy carnivores, weighing up to 380lbs and reaching 6ft in height, are more likely to flee us.

Alexander says: “I have come in contact with these bears and they just run away.”

But warning of a mother’s protective nature, he adds: “If you have an opportunity to see a female with a calf, maybe they are a bit dangerous.”

The spectacled bears’ strong jaws are more likely to gnaw on trees or hard fruit than to attack.

But without this food source, they will not survive.

Alexander says: “The females need these fruits to get fat and to reproduce.”

SBC is working in various ways to protect the bear population, including building artificial waterfalls to provide much-needed sources of hydration in the dry area, and buying up land so forests can not be cut down.

In addition, they are educating locals about the benefits the creatures bring, for example spreading seeds, which is good for the environment, and helping to control smaller mammals, such as rats.

Alexander says: “We have built some artificial waterfalls in Peru and we have seen some of the females use these waterfalls.”

‘Incredible curiosity’

To help fund work so locals have less reason to cut down bear forests for farming, SBC employs around 100 women there to hand-make products out of wool that are sold in North America.

Not all Peruvians fear the bears.

In fact, some indigenous people living near the Inca ruins close to Cusco treat them like gods.

Alexander says: “There’s a big celebration in the Cusco area. They are revered. There is a procession into the glaciers.”

Elements of this are reflected in Paddington In Peru.

In the film, the bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw and named after the London train station where he was found by the Brown family, returns to his homeland.

He finds himself among the Inca ruins, where he proves to be more welcome than the humans.

These ruins draw in thousands of tourists, which could be detrimental to the bears.

To find out what effect they have, SBC has placed 200 cameras near the “lost city” of Machu Picchu — 8,000ft up in the mountains.

The main difference between spectacled bears and Paddington is fur colour.

The fictional character is reddish brown, as opposed to mainly black or dark brown.

Also, the spectacled bear is not obsessed with oranges like Paddington, but does eat orange fruit sapote.

Kate McIvor, communications boss at SBC, says: “There are parallels with Paddington because bears in the wild have this incredible curiosity and charismatic, playful personality.

“They try to pull the camera traps off the trees, or they climb cliffs to reach snails and food resources.

“They’re play-fighting and wrestling or splashing in water holes. They look like a person relaxing in a hot tub.”

•  For more, go to sbc-peru.org.