In this Daily: Tracking Native Animals in Costa Rica
For the past three weeks, the Agroforestales team at Las Catalinas has begun using motion-activated cameras to track the native Costa Rican animals in our 1000-acre tropical dry forest reserve. This project is part of a partnership with Guanacaste Wildlife Monitoring (GWM), a local organization who supports the tracking and protection of native Costa Rican wildlife.
This initial phase will run for 3 months, and features 6 cameras placed around the nature reserve. These cameras will stream the footage back, where each species can be identified and counted to further understand our local ecosystem. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to build a baseline database through which the Agroforestales team can assess the success of our conservation efforts over time.
GWM has compiled the footage of all unique animal and bird sightings from the last two weeks into short clips and has uploaded a compilation of some of the best sightings on their website with helpful identifying information.
Take a look at some of the native animals in Las Catalinas here
In just the two weeks since the launch of the project, the team has identified 26 species of mammals and countless species of birds and insects. This video includes a handful from the first round of footage, including:
More footage is currently being captured as the cameras continue to run and collect data, so keep an eye on their YouTube channel for more videos from the area.
Fascinating to know that many of the species that you can spot in Guanacaste national parks can also be found during a simple trip out onto the trails.
That concept and experience is something that the town is dedicated to protecting. Since the founding of Las Catalinas in 2006, there has been a concentrated effort to revitalize those 1000 acres and protect them in perpetuity as a wildlife reserve. Seeing those efforts come to life in vivid color is exciting, especially after years of work, and it marks another milestone in the conservation of nature.