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Wildlife Research in Belize |
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Conservation research on Belizean mammals |
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Welcome |
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Research |
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About |
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Publications |
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Field updates |
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Opportunities |
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Useful links |
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Dr Rebecca Foster & Dr Bart Harmsen Phone: (00501) 663-1505 or 665-7318 E-mail: R.Foster@soton.ac.uk | rfoster@panthera.org bartjh@soton.ac.uk | bharmsen@panthera.org |
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To contact us: |
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Field updates: Mar-Dec 2009 |
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MARCH 2009 Wildlife Management course for UB students Natural Resource Management students at the University of Belize successfully completed the Wildlife Management course. The ten students received training in wildlife ecology and conservation. The course included a field trip to collect data on socio-economics and peoples’ attitudes to wildlife in four communities within the proposed Belize Wildlife Corridor. These data will provide invaluable information in the planning and execution of the Belize Wildlife Corridor Initiative |
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Female F09-01 (lying, centre) and male M09-03 (standing at edge of frame, tail & testicles visible) |
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Monthly updates, please scroll down for most recent entry |
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UB students Cordelia Che, Jair Grajales and Diane Ruiz interview the residents of More Tomorrow, Democracia and Frank’s Eddy |
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APRIL 2009 Ministers fly over the jaguar corridor with Dr Rabinowitz Dr Alan Rabinowitz, famous for helping the Belize Audubon Society to establish the world’s first jaguar reserve in the Cockscomb Basin in 1986, returned to Belize to promote Panthera’s Jaguar Corridor Initiative. The aim is to create an extensive genetic corridor, by protecting or recreating connectivity between populations, across the entire jaguar range. During his visit, Dr Rabinowitz joined Belize Government Ministers on a helicopter flight over the region of the proposed Belize Jaguar Corridor. |
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Forest and citrus viewed from the air |
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MAY 2009 Exploring the lagoon The new study area, a vast area of unprotected forests, savannahs and agriculture, includes a fresh water lagoon teeming with fish and crocodiles. Initial explorations into the area have revealed many signs of cats and tapirs, as well as prey species such as white-lipped peccaries, armadillos and white-tailed deer. |
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The lagoon, a wildlife haven in the dry season |
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JUNE 2009 Love is in the air! The first batch of camera-trap photos from the new study area reveal courting jaguars. Four males are detected within a 2 km radius of a female … and from this photo it seems that at least one of them got lucky!
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Aerial photography of study area Kathy Zeller, Corridor Initiative Coordinator for Panthera, visited Belize to conduct aerial photography over the study area. The photographs will provide detailed information of the habitat and land use throughout the proposed corridor area, essential for planning fieldwork and identifying priority areas. |
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JULY 2009 Camera-trap survey formally underway The last of the camera station locations were identified and established on logging roads through broadleaf forest and around cattle pastures to complete the survey area. Twenty-five camera stations covering an effective survey area of ~ 230 km2 will run continuously for at least 2 months. The data will be used to estimate jaguar density and to identify hotspots for live capture and collaring of various medium to large mammals. |
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Ground-truthing in Southern Corridor Cordelia Che, a 2009 graduate from the NRM program at UB, is hired by Panthera to conduct ground-truthing interviews in the Southern Belize Corridor to determine jaguar presence and absence for the Panthera Jaguar Corridor Initiative. |
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Exploring a network of logging roads |
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AUGUST 2009 RAIN, RAIN, RAIN … the wet season is truly here! Fieldwork continues whatever the conditions. |
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Networking is the way forward for successful wildlife conservation in Belize Galen University hosted the 3-day Belize Wildlife Conservation Networking Conference to facilitate education, communication and collaboration within the wildlife conservation community in Belize. The conference was a great success. For more information about the Belize Wildlife Conservation Network please contact: Dr Isabelle Paquet-Durand at Galen University, Belize (ipaquet@gmx.net) |
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Field team caught on camera sheltering under a tarp! |
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SEPTEMBER 2009 Hiring of Head Field Assistant After enduring 4 months of casual employment on the Belize Wildlife Corridor initiative, and more than his fair share of beef-worms, Mr Arthuro Ramos is hired as Head Field Assistant. His knowledge of the study area, good humour and field skills are a great asset to the project. |
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Arthuro Ramos checking a camera trap |
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Official launch of the 2009 Darwin Initiatives in Belize The British High Commission celebrated the launch of two DEFRA Darwin funded initiatives in Belize. The Belize Wildlife Corridor Initiative and the Savanna Ecosystem Assessment. The event was attended by the University of Belize, the Belize Forest Department, the Belize Audubon Society and several other conservation NGOs, as well as scientists from both research teams. |
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Because of the high water level some cameras are only accessible by canoe |
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First camera trap survey for jaguars in the Central Belize Corridor is complete Our cameras detected 11 jaguars in the broadleaf forest, around the lagoon and near pastures in the northwest of proposed wildlife corridor. We estimate that there are about 4 jaguars for every 100 km2, approximately half the density detected in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. |
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Darwin Initiative Project Leader visits Belize Dr Patrick Doncaster visited Belize to meet with representatives from the University of Belize, the Belize Forest Dept. and Panthera. He also had some time for fieldwork, which included a trip on Cox Lagoon at dawn to collect camera traps. |
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XIII MSBC Congress hosted in Belize The University of Belize hosted the 13th Congress of the Mesoamerican Society of Biology and Conservation, bringing together members of the Mesoamerican conservation community to share scientific knowledge relevant to conservation and nature resource management in the region. Panthera hosted a full-day special symposium entitled: Felid status, ecology and conservation in Mesoamerica, and provided the perfect framework to bring together researchers involved in the Panthera Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
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Workshop for Darwin Initiative partners in Serra dos Orgaos National Park, Brazil Against the magnificent backdrop of the Serra dos Orgaos National Park in Brazil, Dr Bart Harmsen and Dr Elma Kay attended a Darwin Initiative (DI) Regional Workshop to develop stronger networks between South and Central American DI projects. Since 1992, the DI has invested £74 million in 670 projects in 120 countries. We are grateful for their support and hope that the lessons learned during the workshop will help to facilitate future DI partnerships in the neotropics.
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DECEMBER
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OCTOBER 2009 |
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Patrick Doncaster & Rebecca Foster follow jaguar tracks in the Central Belize Corridor |
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Panthera jaguar researchers enjoy a visit to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary |
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Bart Harmsen in Serra dos Orgaos National Partk, Brazil |
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Following the success of the 1st camera survey in the northwest of the wildlife corridor, we have now established a camera grid to the southeast. The survey spans the Western Highway, across savannah plains to the Sibun River. |
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Do ‘cayes’ of broadleaf forest in the savannah landscape provide ’stepping stones’ for jaguars and refuges for prey? |
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Second camera trap survey for jaguars in the Central Belize Corridor |
