One of the top carnivores in the Andean mountains is the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus, Ursidae), the only bear in South America. This is a flagship and key umbrella species in Ecuador because its conservation has a positive impact on the conservation of many other species in the Andes. But to preserve, first one must know the genetic characteristics of a species, among other things. For this, we analyzed six mitochondrial genes and seven nuclear DNA microsatellites of 108 Andean bear specimens sampled throughout Ecuador. We adopted three strategies for analyzing the data: by Province, by Region (north vs south), and by Cordillera. Four main results were obtained. First, the mitochondrial genetic diversity levels were elevated, but there were no differences in genetic diversity by Province or by Cordillera. By Regions, southern Ecuador had higher genetic diversity levels than to northern Ecuador. The genetic diversity for the microsatellites was only medium for the Andean bear at this country. Second, there was clear and significant evidence of female population expansions, for the overall sample, by Province, Region, and Cordillera. This population expansion was determined to have occurred in the time interval of 30,000–20,000 years ago (YA), during the last phase of the Pleistocene. We detected a population decrease to have occurred more recently, within the last 5000 years. It continued until about 300–200 YA when a population increase was again detected. Third, there were, practically, no phylogeographic pattern nor genetic differentiation among Andean bear populations in Ecuador by Province or by Cordillera for either mitochondrial or microsatellite markers. There was a little more genetic differentiation between northern and southern areas. Fourth, there was no trace of significant spatial genetic structure for the Andean bear in Ecuador in agreement with the genetic differentiation analyses. This shows that the Andean Cordilleras in this country did not present an obstacle to the dispersion of this species. Therefore, all of the Andean bear specimens in Ecuador should be treated as a unique Management Unit (MU) for conservation purposes, differently to that determined for other countries as Colombia.

安第斯山脉上最顶级的食肉动物之一是安第斯熊（Tremarctos ornatus，Ursidae），这是南美唯一的熊。这是厄瓜多尔的旗舰和主要保护伞物种，因为其保护对安第斯山脉许多其他物种的保护具有积极影响。但是要保护，首先必须知道一个物种的遗传特征。为此，我们分析了整个厄瓜多尔采集的108头安第斯熊标本的六个线粒体基因和七个核DNA微卫星。我们采用了三种分析数据的策略：按省，按地区（北对南）和科迪勒拉。获得了四个主要结果。首先，线粒体的遗传多样性水平有所提高，但各省或科迪勒拉省的遗传多样性没有差异。按地区划分，厄瓜多尔南部的遗传多样性水平高于厄瓜多尔北部。在这个国家，微卫星的遗传多样性只是安第斯熊的媒介。其次，有明显的证据表明，按省，地区和科迪勒拉地区的总体样本来看，女性人口在增加。据确定，这种人口膨胀发生在更新世末期的30,000–20,000年前（YA）。我们发现最近5000年来人口减少的趋势。它一直持续到大约300-200 YA，之后再次检测到人口增加。第三，实际上，厄瓜多尔安第斯熊种群之间没有线粒体或微卫星标记的系统地理学模式或遗传差异，按省或科迪勒拉分类。北部和南部地区之间存在更多的遗传分化。第四，厄瓜多尔的安第斯熊没有明显的空间遗传结构，这与遗传分化分析一致。这表明该国的安第斯山脉山脉并未对该物种的扩散构成障碍。因此，出于保护目的，厄瓜多尔的所有安第斯熊样本应被视为一个独特的管理单位（MU），与其他国家（哥伦比亚）确定的管理单位不同。