Jaguars, Panthers & Pumas : Peru

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the ecological importance of natural clay licks as this information will assist in the development of an environmentally sensitive and sustainable management strategy. The goal is to better understand the importance of mineral licks in the lives of the puma and jaguar. Once it is understood how the clay lick ecology works, strategies for their sustainable use in eco- and nature tourism can be developed that will benefit local people and wildlife and provide strong incentives to protect more natural habitat that is currently threatened by unsustainable and short-term gain logging, gold mining and oil & gas exploration.

When?

This study runs from Nov. 8th thru Dec. 4th, 2009.

Why?

Increasing economic development is putting a strain on the natural resources of the Peruvian Amazon. Unsustainable forms of farming, logging and tourism are on the rise, especially along the Tambopata river, an area renowned for its biodiversity.

As humans increasingly encroach on their habitat, conflict results as most of the animals eaten by jaguar, panther and puma are also hunted by humans. In many areas, over-hunting and poaching by humans has reduced these prey populations to very low numbers.

Where?

The expedition base camp is within the department of Madre de Dios, internationally known as “the Biodiversity Capital of the World”. The department already contains two large national parks covering over half of its 78,000 km² area – Manu and the vast Bahuaja-Sonene (Tambopata) area. The Rio Piedras is located between the two.

In terms of biological diversity, the research area is amongst the richest in the world. The area’s ecosystems hold several world records in flora and fauna species numbers and are recognised as one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots. It has recently been identified as the largest uninhabited and untouched rainforest wilderness on Earth, covering about 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of undisturbed and unhunted habitat .