Male jaguar named Gerardo photographed by one of the camera traps in Tortuguero National Park
Tortuguero National Park is part of the Jaguar
Conservation Units and should therefore be a priority area for directing the efforts of conservation of the species.
However, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and the increased land use
(agriculture/livestock) has led to the fragmentation of the Tortuguero
Conservation Area, where the Tortuguero National Park is one of the last
remaining tropical humid forests in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. The
environmental consequences of such activities (e.g. loss of forest cover) will
have negative impacts on the jaguar populations (e.g. low prey availability due
to hunting, increase of jaguar-human conflicts associated with the cattle
predation on farms located in the buffer area of the park). Therefore, assessing habitat selection by jaguar
populations will help to determine jaguar habitat requirements (e.g. forest cover type, prey availability) and the effect of human perturbations (e.g. agricultural areas, human settlements) on habitat use. Such information may be
used as a framework to establish priority areas for conservation within the
park and its buffer area. For example, areas with high rates of hunting and
deforestation are particularly at risk.
Camera traps and recording of indirect signs (e.g. scats, tracks) have been used to evaluate jaguar habitat selection within the study area. In June, after the cameras were checked for the first time, we were pleased to discover the first photo of a felid - an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) - in the mountain sector of the park. One month later we were thrilled to encounter our first two jaguars (a male and a female) on the straight of the beach which two weeks later were recorded for the first time in one of our camera traps.
Camera traps and recording of indirect signs (e.g. scats, tracks) have been used to evaluate jaguar habitat selection within the study area. In June, after the cameras were checked for the first time, we were pleased to discover the first photo of a felid - an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) - in the mountain sector of the park. One month later we were thrilled to encounter our first two jaguars (a male and a female) on the straight of the beach which two weeks later were recorded for the first time in one of our camera traps.
Female jaguar named Ceci photographed by Stephanny in July 2012
So far we have been able to identify 11 jaguars (six males, four females and
one cub). One of the females
was photographed at Aguas Frías sector – which represents the first photo of a
jaguar ever taken in the mountain sector of the Tortuguero National Park. The
other jaguars were reported on the straight of the beach and on one of the main
islands of the park. To top it off, in November we were able to report the
first photographic evidence of a puma (Puma
concolor) ever taken in Tortuguero National Park.
Otherwise data thus far shows evidence of 11 prey species including paca (Agouti paca), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), Central America agouti (Dasyprocta punctata), red brocket deer (Mazama americana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novencinctus) and green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) among others.
Furthermore, we have built a strategic alliance with Panthera-Costa Rica who has contributed to successful project development and implementation.
We have also built a second alliance with Global Vision International who has lead one of the longest-running jaguar research initiatives in the Tortuguero National Park - conducted over the past six years.
We believe that it will be a great opportunity for knowledge sharing which will help us to have a better understanding of the situation of jaguars in the study area.
Moreover in July we initiated the dissemination activities with the support of Panthera-Costa Rica and Global Vision International. So far we have given three presentations to the communities of Barra de Tortuguero and Parismina, and in September we conducted a workshop for the park rangers about “Non-invasive Methods to Study Jaguars”. The key purpose of these activities was to raise awareness of the research being carried out within the Tortuguero National Park to the key stakeholders. Once we gathered and analyzed all the information we will be able to establish priority areas for conservation within the park and its buffer area, as well as future conservation policies at the local level. It is expected that wildlife managers of the park will use the information generated as a complementary tool to make practical management and conservation actions of the jaguar in the Tortuguero National Park. This project has the support from Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation Jaguar Research Grant Program, Rufford Small Grants Foundation, Idea Wild and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Otherwise data thus far shows evidence of 11 prey species including paca (Agouti paca), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), Central America agouti (Dasyprocta punctata), red brocket deer (Mazama americana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novencinctus) and green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) among others.
Furthermore, we have built a strategic alliance with Panthera-Costa Rica who has contributed to successful project development and implementation.
We have also built a second alliance with Global Vision International who has lead one of the longest-running jaguar research initiatives in the Tortuguero National Park - conducted over the past six years.
We believe that it will be a great opportunity for knowledge sharing which will help us to have a better understanding of the situation of jaguars in the study area.
Moreover in July we initiated the dissemination activities with the support of Panthera-Costa Rica and Global Vision International. So far we have given three presentations to the communities of Barra de Tortuguero and Parismina, and in September we conducted a workshop for the park rangers about “Non-invasive Methods to Study Jaguars”. The key purpose of these activities was to raise awareness of the research being carried out within the Tortuguero National Park to the key stakeholders. Once we gathered and analyzed all the information we will be able to establish priority areas for conservation within the park and its buffer area, as well as future conservation policies at the local level. It is expected that wildlife managers of the park will use the information generated as a complementary tool to make practical management and conservation actions of the jaguar in the Tortuguero National Park. This project has the support from Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation Jaguar Research Grant Program, Rufford Small Grants Foundation, Idea Wild and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
- Stephanny Arroyo-Arce, Jaguar Researcher
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