Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Jaguar paper published at Oryx!

After many months,  we have finally completed our publication of the jaguar paper we have been working on. This has been a big effort; thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who contributed to the data collection and thanks to the staff  that published the paper, great work.

Jaguar Panthera onca predation of marine turtles: conflict between flagship species in Tortuguero,
Costa Rica
D . VE R Í S S I M O, D. A. JO N E S, R. CH AV E R R I and S . R . ME Y E R

Abstract:
Predation can be an important driver of population dynamics but can also pose a dilemma to conservation managers if the species interacting are of conservation concern or have a high public profile. For 5 years we conducted regular transect surveys to monitor the spatial and temporal patterns of predation of adult marine turtles by jaguars Panthera onca in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Predation occurs throughout the study site on Tortuguero Beach although at lower rates at the northern and southern ends, probably because of increased human presence in these areas. There was a marked increase in predation, from an average of less than 2 turtles predated per survey in the first season to greater than 5 predated per survey in the last, with 676 jaguar-predated marine turtles recorded during the study period. With a minimum of 189 individuals predated in the last season, predation of adult turtles has now reached a magnitude never before recorded in a marine
turtle rookery. ...

For a short period of time, the paper can be downloaded here:


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