Monitoring Jaguars and Other Charismatic Species in Bolivia’s Alto Madidi
Monitoring Jaguars and Other Charismatic Species in Bolivia’s Alto Madidi
Posted by Wildlife Conservation Society on January 19, 2016
By Rob Wallace
(Note: this is the fourth in a series of reports from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) on the Identidad Madidi - http://identidadmadidi.org/ - expedition currently taking place in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park)
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Alto Madidi – where the Andes meets the Amazon in Bolivia´s stunning Madidi National Park.
Photo by Rob Wallace ©WCS
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The Madidi protected area takes its name from this river, though the river itself is named after the Tacana indigenous word for an ant species found on its sandy beaches.
For most of the team our visit to Alto Madidi is a first. Not so for Bolivian wildlife biologists Guido Ayala and Maria Viscarra, two of my colleagues from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). Guido and Maria have spent the last 15 years generating knowledge about, and then monitoring populations of, charismatic wildlife species in the jungles of Madidi and beyond.
Their endeavor and commitment has resulted in an almost unique long-term dataset at several sites, including Alto Madidi, on species such as black spider monkeys (Ateles chamek), lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), collared and white-lipped peccaries (Pecari tajacu and Tayassu pecari), giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis), and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). But for Guido and Maria it’s all about the jaguars (Panthera onca).
“Jaguars need huge areas to thrive, both individually and – especially – from a population viewpoint,” Guido explains. “Our camera trapping data backs this up, with animals patrolling more than 20 km along rivers. They frequently cross the boundaries of national parks, thus demonstrating the need for a landscape conservation approach that looks to protect forest within and immediately adjacent to Madidi.”
More:
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/19/monitoring-jaguars-and-other-charismatic-species-in-bolivias-alto-madidi/
Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112796041
