Talamanca Large Mammal Study – Progress Report 2014 Prepared January 2015 Dr

Talamanca Large Mammal Study – Progress Report 2014 Prepared January 2015 Dr. Mike Mooring, Ph.D. Carol Williams, Dylan Poorboy, Jessica Fowler Department of Biology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA 92106 USA Email: [email protected] Costa Rica Research Permit Nº 066-13 - ACLAP Summary Our research group is conducting a long term survey of the large mammal fauna of the high elevation Talamanca Cordillera, the major cloud forest region of Costa Rica. The aim is to fill the gap in our understanding of jaguar (Panthera onca) and other cloud forest predators (6 species, of felids, coyote, tayra), and to determine the status of major prey species that these predators depend upon (e.g., peccary, deer, tapir). Although habitat loss from deforestation has largely stopped, illegal hunting from adjacent agricultural areas are producing an ‘empty forest syndrome’ in many of the region’s premier protected areas. Since 2010, we have investigated keystone predators and prey using camera traps, genetic scat analysis, and interview projects in order to support conservation actions by government, universities, and conservation organizations, and to promote community-based conservation among local residents. All of our activities involve the participation of local partners in national parks, private reserves, and biological corridors. The following report documents the progress made during 2014. The research team and study sites in which we worked are depicted on the following page. Highlights from the year inculde the following: Occupancy analysis based on interview data assessed the presence of jaguar in Tapantí N.P. A new hair snare design was tested at the San Diego Zoo and field tested at Osa Conservacíon Interviews in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor revealed that nutria (river otters) occur in the major rivers and that white-tailed deer and coyote are common in the agricultural zone Camera traps were deployed on a new trail that cuts through the heart of Tapantí N.P. The Rio Macho Forest Reserve in Villa Mills is now part of our camera trap network We gave many presentations to communities in the region to explain our research project Puma were frequently seen to investigate the scent stations by sniffing and rubbing Examination of the unique rosettes of the jaguars photographed since 2010 reveal that at least 5 different individuals use an overlapping home range in our study region We are training a scent-detection dog to find the scat of jaguar and other felids on the trails A new collaborative study in the ACOPAC region will investigate the effectiveness of the Paso de las Lapas Biological Corridor in promoting wildlife movement among protected areas Stunning new photos were taken of jaguarundi, tayra, ocelot, tapir, oncilla, and paca Table 1 on page 31 lists the 26 mammalian species found by our camera traps since the project began. The table lists the common, Spanish, and scientific names and mass of each species in order of size. Mammal study team 2014, photographed at the Osa Peninsula. From left: Dylan Poorboy, Carol Williams, Jessica Fowler, Dr. Mike Mooring, and Timmy Mooring. Map of the Jaguar Corridor in Costa Rica with our study regions indicated by the red dotted line. 2 Integrating occupancy modeling and interview data to assess threats to jaguar and their prey in Tapantí National Park Honors Project by Eduardo Alvarez National parks are critical elements in the long-term conservation of wide-ranging species within Costa Rica, including apex predators such as jaguar. Field assessments of species presence rely largely on camera trap surveys, but camera trapping is constrained by the need for an extensive trail system as well as the funding for equipment and staff time to monitor the cameras. Occupancy analysis is a new technique for assessing the presence of elusive mammals using detection and non-detection surveys. An advantage of interviews is that a retrospective survey can be conducted of species present in the past. By using local people knowledgeable about wildlife, well-designed interview studies can provide a cost-efficient alternative to large-scale field surveys of rare and elusive species. Because Tapantí National Park is understaffed and has a meagre trail system, I used interview data collected by the research team in 2013 to conduct an occupancy analysis of the factors influencing the presence of jaguar and their prey in Tapantí. Previous camera trap surveys have identified 10 large mammal species occupying Tapantí National Park, including Baird’s tapir, brocket deer, collared peccary, puma, ocelot, and jaguar. I divided the study area into 35 25-km2 sampling units (5 x 5 km grids), resulting in a total study area measuring 875 km2 covering the entire range of the park. Interviews were conducted for approximately three weeks during the month of August, 2013. Interviewees were local people with a variety of vocations, such as park guards, farm owners, and hunters. Before beginning an interview, I assured the interviewee that we were not from the government and that all information would remain anonymous. This helped prevent collecting biased data. The interviewee was asked to identify the various sampling units where they had seen large mammal species for the past year, two years, and greater than 2 years. We recorded detections based on direct sightings of the animal or direct observation of a sign (tracks, scat). Each site that had species sightings was analyzed using PRESENCE version 6.4. Because we could not assume a closed population, the parameter Psi (Ψ) represents “habitat use” (c.f., occupancy), i.e. the proportion of the area used by the species in question. I used a single-state model (only one species is analyzed at a time) and assumed that the more frequently a species or its sign was observed, the higher its relative abundance. Detection was assigned a value of 1, while no information (similar to “no detection”) was assigned a value of 0. 3 We conducted 25 interviews over a three-week period. Residency of the interviewees in the study area ranged from 3-76 years, with a mean residency of 38 years. Twenty-four of the interviewees were male, and only one was female. Interviewee age ranged between 25-77 years, with a mean age of 53 years old. Twenty-three percent of interviewees were park guards, 17% were hunters, and the others were classified as residents (Fig. 1L). Of the interviewees, 73% own land and move through the forest to get to their farms. Most interviewees (72%) indicated that the abundance of mammals in the forest is less than in the past, 24% said that abundance has stayed the same, while 4% reported an increase in abundance (Fig. 1R). Interestingly, the interviewees that reported wildlife abundance was the same or had increased from the past were all hunters. The primary threat to species was reported to be deforestation (52%) and hunting (34%); “other” (14%) included species leaving the area to find better resources, or becoming more elusive to avoid predation by hunters (Fig. 2). Figure 1. (Left) Occupation of interviewees; residents owned farms outside the park. (Right) Change in abundance of species from the past reported by interviewees. Primary threat to species Figure 2. The primary threat to wildlife species reported by interviewees. 4 Seventeen percent of the interviewees reported sighting a jaguar either directly or by correct identification of the track. Overall occupancy of jaguar is 0.26, while the conditional occupancy is 0.23. The proportion of area occupied by jaguar is 23%, where eight of the sampling units out of the thirty-five had positive detection (Fig. 3). Figure 3. Jaguar occupancy in Tapantí National Park based on interview data. Green grids indicate a detection of 1.0, yellow grids depict the conditional occupancy of 0.23. Of prey species, only collared peccary and red brocket deer were analyzed. Occupancy analysis revealed that collared peccary had overall occupancy of 0.61 and conditional occupancy of 0.38. The proportion of the area occupied by collared peccary was 23% (Fig. 4). Figure 4. Collared peccary occupancy. Positive detections are shown in green with an occupancy value of 1.0, and conditional occupancy of 0.38 is shown in yellow. 5 Red brocket deer occupancy analysis revealed an overall occupancy of 0.64 and a conditional occupancy of 0.39. The data suggests a higher prevalence of red brocket deer compared with collared peccary. The proportion occupied by red brocket deer was 29%, slightly higher than both jaguar and collared peccary (Fig. 5). Figure 5. Red brocket deer occupancy analysis. Positive detection is shown in green with an occupancy value of 1.0, conditional probability is shown in yellow, with a conditional occupancy value of 0.39. The occupancy results are a cause for concern. Overall occupancy for jaguar and collared peccary was 0.23, and for red brocket deer was 0.29. This suggests small populations of both predator and prey species, reminiscent of the empty forest syndrome. However, these results are inconclusive due to our small sample size and small replication for each grid. Information gathered from interviews suggests that species decline within protected areas is due to hunting. Last year, a new law was implemented in Costa Rica that prohibits all sport and recreational hunting, with stiffer fines for violators. Many hunters interviewed did not agree with the new law because it steps into cultural areas that were not regulated in the past. Only one of the hunters admitted to trying to kill a jaguar, but he did not report a successful killing. The main species hunted is paca, a small rodent. Hunters reported killing collared peccary on occasion, but that game is often avoided due to its elusiveness and the difficulty of transport.

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