In the News:

BBC Wildlife Magazine features our unique ocelot family photo

The image “Ocelot Family on the Hunt” was taken in tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, on Feb. 22, 2011 at 9:03 pm.   The time of year is dry season, when young rodents are starting to be abundantly available and are a favorite prey of ocelots.

The image shows a young mother ocelot escorting her second litter out for a hunt. We know it’s her second litter because we have been following the life history of this ocelot for 3 years now, by camera-trapping.  We can identify her and other ocelots by her unique pattern of spots.  Her name is Morse Code and the kittens are Dot and Dash. These kittens are very young, about 3 months old, and this is their first long exploration away from the den.  We know this because we have been monitoring with camera-traps and this is the first image we have of her kittens.  We are excited about this image because in 16 years of monitoring ocelots on this island preserve this is the first time that we have recorded a female with more than one kitten.  We know that their reproductive rate is very low, and that the mortality of young ocelots is high.  We have followed this pair of kittens over the weeks since this image was recorded, and they were doing well when we last downloaded photos. We are concerned for their survival because ocelots outside this preserve are heavily hunted and occur in very low densities.  One kitten has taken note of the camera and in the next image slowed and stopped to look at the camera, while the others hurried on, intent on patrolling the trail in search of prey.  We know from this sort of behavior that the high-tech cameras that are supposed to have an “invisible flash” of infrared light are actually quite visible to the cats.

The Rainforest Connection, founded by Jacalyn and Gregory Willis, is our project organization, which is based at Montclair State University in New Jersey, USA.  We have run camera-traps in tropical forest in Panama since 1994.  The project has been maintained partly under the auspices of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, and with funds from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. 

Over the past 17 years we have used many brands of camera-trap, but this image was taken with a digital infrared flash camera by Reconyx.

The aim of the Rainforest Connection is to monitor long-term population changes in mammals in Panama so that conservation decisions can be informed by data on species densities, natural variations in population numbers, animal behavior, health appearances, home range sizes, and trophic interactions.  Through camera-trapping we can identify all individual ocelots on the island and trace the reproduction and longevity of females, as well as interactions among individuals.  We monitor trophic interactions through our studies of numbers of predators and their prey, and by examining carcasses, remains in scats, and photos of predators carrying or consuming prey.  In this manner we can identify food web changes that may affect chances of local extinctions.  One of the very important lessons we have learned is that tropical populations of mammals vary immensely through time and are tied to variations in fruiting and weather patterns.  This means that conservation areas need to be large enough to encompass sufficient individuals so that a species does not decline to extinction during a low phase in its natural cycle.

A second and very important aim of the project is to provide conservation education programs to schools in the host countries where our projects occur, and in the USA.  The Rainforest Connection provides video chats web-cast from the forests, in real-time, with researchers. The aim is to engage primary and secondary school students in a lively interactive format in the study of conservation issues, and to help them understand the necessity to be active in local and international conservation projects and to learn procedures followed in field research projects.

 

The Rainforest Connection Live - Belize December 14th-16th was a success!

The first rainforest video-chats of the school year were hosted from a remote eco-lodge in Belize in a forest with the highest density of jaguars in the world.  PRISM videoconference programs feature live conversations with scientists, researchers, naturalists, teachers, and students from locations such as Panama, Belize, and Australia.  The Belize experiences are hosted from ChanChich Lodge near the border of Guatemala, via satellite internet.  You can view the location at their website: (http://chanchich.com). 

Jaguar photographed by our camera-traps at Chan Chich Belize

 

For more information or to view pictures, click the links within the topic.