It is necessary to assess whether the management of protected areas is achieving the objectives set for them. In particular, changes and trends in wildlife populations should be documented. We compared the 1990 abundance of mammals in two Costa Rican protected areas, Corcovado National Park (CNP) and Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve (GDFR), with similar environmental characteristics but different hunting restrictions and levels of protection. We also monitored the abundance of mammals in CNP over a 4-year period. We also devised an inexpensive method of monitoring tropical rainforest mammal populations in a timely and efficient manner. The method is based on the use of mammal track records and arboreal mammal sightings and requires little effort. With this method 20 mammal species were recorded at CNP and 15 at GDFR. Species were consistently less abundant in GDFR than in CNP, principally those species preferred by hunters. Species were grouped according to whether or not they are used as food and whether they are locally or globally threatened or not threatened. The abundance of all these groups of species in GDFR was 6-28% the abundance in CNP. During 1990During -1994, overall mammal abundance in CNP remained relatively stable, but there was considerable variability among species. As a group, both species used for food and globally threatened species declined in abundance during that period in CNP. The abundance of all groups of species declined from 1992 to 1994, coinciding with a reduction in hunting vigilance at CNP. Evidence suggests that the main factor differentiating the abundance of mammals in the two protected areas, and at CNP during the study period, was the level of hunting. Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve seems to be achieving only partial success in protecting wildlife, whereas Corcovado National Park seems to be considerably more effective, although not entirely successful. Monitoreo de Poblaciones de Mamíferos en Áreas Protegidas de Costa Rica con Diferentes Restricciones de CaceríaResumen: Es necesario evaluar si el manejo de áreas protegidas está cumpliendo con sus objetivos establecidos. En particular, se deben documentar los cambios y tendencias de las poblaciones de vida silvestre. En este estudio comparamos la abundancia de los mamíferos durante 1990 en dos áreas protegidas de Costa Rica con características ambientales semejantes, pero con diferentes restricciones en cuanto a la cacería y diferentes niveles de protección: el Parque Nacional Corcovado (PNC) y la Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce (RFGD). También comparamos la abundancia de los mamíferos en el PNC durante un periodo de cuatro años (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994). Además desarrollamos un método barato, basado en el registro de huellas de mamíferos y en avistamientos de mamíferos arborícolas. Este método requiere de poco esfuerzo y se puede usar para dar seguimiento a las poblaciones de mamíferos selváticos de manera rápida y eficiente. Con este método registramos la abundancia de 20 especies en el PNC y de 15 en la RFGD. Todas las especies f...
The jaguar Panthera onca is threatened throughout its range and categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. To inform conservation of the jaguar population in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, population size was estimated using data from a 3-month camera trap study. Individuals were identified from their coat patterns. The resulting density estimate of 6.98 ± SD 2.36 individuals per 100 km2 was lower than expected. The sex ratio was 1.33 males per female, and the minimum home ranges of two males were 25.64 and 6.57 km2. Hunting pressure on jaguar and white-lipped peccaries Tayassu pecari, the jaguar's main prey in the Park, may be responsible for the low jaguar density as space does not seem to be a limiting factor. The numbers of females may have been underestimated because of sampling bias and therefore the sex ratio obtained in this and similar studies must be interpreted cautiously. Better protection of the corridor that connects the Park with other protected areas is essential to guarantee long-term survival of the jaguar in Costa Rica.
Geographic variation in behaviour of individuals within a species is well known (Foster & Endler 1999), both across ranges (Iriarte et al. 1990) and locally (Hertz & Huey 1981). For predators, variation in prey use within a given site is often seasonal (Brillhart & Kaufman 1995), and related to changes in relative abundance and/or vulnerability of various prey (Kunkel et al. 2004). Behavioural diversity also occurs because prey behaviours vary and predators change foraging tactics, even on a daily basis (Ropert-Coudert et al. 2002).
The conservation of remnant populations of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) in Central America depends on understanding their demography, but few quantitative data exist. We report survival and cause-specific mortality of 25 female and 11 male radio-marked adult (>1.0 year old) white-lipped peccaries monitored during February 1995 February 2001 in Corcovado National Park, their largest stronghold in Costa Rica. Annual survival was lower for female (0.78; 95% CI = 0.680.88) than for male (0.94; 95% CI = 0.861.00) peccaries. Both sexes were poached and died in accidents but only females were killed by predators or died of unknown causes (but not poaching). In comparison with the demography of collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu), the population of white-lipped peccaries in Corcovado National Park may be maintaining itself. Still, protected areas may need to be expanded and (or) more forcefully monitored to sustain white-lipped peccaries throughout their range if additional use by humans is likely to occur, especially given stochastic population processes and human population increases.
Population status of terrestrial mammals' in two protected areas in the West Central Region of Costa Rica. In the West Central Region of Costa Rica, there are plenty of forests under public and private protection; however, they are increasingly exposed to fragmentation. This is the first report about species richness and the relative abundance of large and medium size terrestrial mammals, in Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve (ReBAMB) and Nectandra Cloud Forest Reserve (RPN). Our camera trap study was undertaken between April and August, 2008. After 1 620 trap-days, 11 species were identified, nine in ReBAMB and six in RPN. The recorded species in both sites were: Cuniculus paca, Dasyprocta punctata, Nasua narica and Pecari tajacu. Felids were only captured in ReBAMB. The peccary (P. tajacu) was the most abundant mammal within the studied area, in contrast with the apparent absence of species such as white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and jaguar (Panthera onca). The difference in species composition between both sites was probably consequence of habitat fragmentation, which especially affects RPN. Species as white-lipped peccary and jaguar could be affected, directly or indirectly, by poaching. We propose that a good conservation goal for ReBAMB and due to their ecological importance is to have at least a white-lipped peccary's population for the next ten years. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65 (2): 493-503. Epub 2017 June 01.
Jaguars (Panthera onca) are a landscape species of conservation importance and our understanding of environmental and anthropogenic drivers of jaguar occurrence is necessary to improve conservation strategies. We reviewed available literature to simply describe environmental and anthropogenic variables used and found to be significant in occurrence modeling. We reviewed 95 documents published from 1980 to 2021 that focused on jaguar occurrence and that used 39 variable types (21 anthropogenic, 18 environmental) among different techniques, scales, and approaches. In general, these variables included both anthropogenic (roads, land use, human activities, and population) and environmental (climate, vegetation, ecological interactions, topographic, water, and others) factors. Twelve variables were identified as affecting jaguar occurrence overall, eleven at local scale and seven at broad scales (regional and continental). Focusing more specifically on the variables that correlate with occurrence should help researchers to make better predictions in areas without quantitative jaguar data.
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