Jaguar & Puma Project
In August 2010 I went to Nicaragua for my 6 months during internship with a nature conservation organization named Paso Pacifico. I got the assignment to assess the presence of the Jaguar (Panthera onca) and the Puma (Puma concolor) on the east coast of Nicaragua, were the Jaguar was known to be extinct. I set up the research with the title and goal; ‘Assessment of presence and distribution of Jaguar (Panthera onca) and Puma (Puma concolor costaricensis), and identifying region potentials and corridor possibilities for future conservation of Jaguars and Pumas in southern Nicaragua’. This interesting research consisted of three parts as you can see in the title. First; assessing the presence and potential distribution of the Jaguar and Puma, second; Identifying the regions in the study area with high potentials for living, for both Jaguars as for Pumas, and third; Identifying the regions in the study area with high potential to serve as a corridor for Jaguar and Puma movement.
This research became a great success!, Through interviews with locals I managed to gain robust data concerning these subjects, I also succeeded in getting 6 trapping cameras (with great thanks to Arnout de Vries) on the plane from the Netherlands so I could use them in the jungle in search for the extinct jaguar. After a lot of hard work I finally got the result I was looking for……
WOW! A male Jaguar busted the myth of jaguar extinction on the west coast of Nicaragua! With all the data gained from the interviews, the tracks surveys and the photographs, this project became a great success! Currently I’m writing on my research article which I hope to publish this year. It will soon be online available on Leopard Hunter.
For more information about Paso Pacifico check their website; www.pasopacifico.org
