How to Draw a Spectacled Bear

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Spectacled Bear in 8 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.

The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.

Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.

At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Spectacled Bear.

Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.

How to Draw a Spectacled Bear - Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: First, let us draw the outline of the Spectacled Bear’s head as shown in the image. Draw the small, rounded ears on the top corners of the bear’s head.

Step 2: Next, draw two slanting oval shapes for the eyes. Draw a rounded triangle shape to show the nose of the bear. Fill in a little of the nose to add more detail to the Spectacled Bear’s face.

Step 3: Then, draw a curved line for the body of the bear.

Step 4: Starting at the end of the previous line, draw gently curved lines to show the outline of the hind leg. Leave a blank space to draw the rest of the Spectacled Bear. Draw short curved lines to show the arched toes.

Step 5: Draw the side outline of the other hind leg next to the previous one using curved lines. Make it a little smaller than the other and add the small curved lines for the toes.

Step 6: Then, draw the front leg, foot and toes as you did in the previous step. Make the front leg a little slanting to make the drawing more realistic. Leave a blank space to draw the other front leg.

Step 7: Draw the other front leg using straight lines. Draw the arched toes on the feet using small curved lines. Draw a curved line between the two front legs for the chest of the Spectacled Bear.

Step 8: Draw the fur patterns of the Spectacled Bear using short curved lines on the face, neck, shoulder and hind leg. Once you finish your drawing, you can start to color in the Spectacled Bear.

Interesting Facts about the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus):

The Spectacled Bear is a small- to medium-sized species of bear with black to dark brown fur and yellow markings across its face. Some people think the markings look like eyeglasses, hence the name “spectacled” bear. It is the only species of bear that lives in South America.

Did you know?

  • Only about five percent of a Spectacled Bear’s diet consists of meat; they prefer to eat plants.
  • The Spectacled Bear can climb trees easily.
  • If there is a piece of fruit they really want to eat, Spectacled Bears can build a platform out of branches in a tree, climb up on the platform, and then reach the fruit from there.
  • The Spectacled Bear has the shortest muzzle of any bear species, shorter even than the giant panda.
  • Because of where it lives in South America, the Spectacled Bear is also sometimes called the Andean Bear, after the Andes Mountains.

Habitat loss is the biggest threat to the Spectacled Bear as a species. There is also some danger to their numbers from farmers killing them because they believe the bears will eat their livestock. Mostly, though, these bears just like to eat tough plants like cactus and bromeliads. Sadly, hunters also kill them because some people think their body parts have medicinal value. Because of these different factors, there are only about three thousand Spectacled Bears left in the wild today. These beautiful bears are vulnerable to extinction.

">