Tracking Big Cats in Belize

Photos courtesy of Marcella Kelly, Virginia Tech

 Sarah Kirkpatrick-Wahl is a volunteer at Nature Canada. She is collaborating on designing and creating a geodatabase for species at risk within Canadian federally protected areas. This summer Sarah is taking a break from Nature Canada volunteering to work with two conservation projects studying large cats in the Americas. 

Recently I travelled to Belize to volunteer with Bernardo Mesa, a wildlife conservation student at Virginia Tech, on his graduate research project. I had never been to Belize before and was immediately taken with the hot, humid climate, the abundant wildlife, and the diverse people there. I was most excited about the prospect of studying jaguars in a country where there is such a large population still surviving today where a new dynamic to the relationship between humans and jaguars is created as people claim and develop the land that was once ruled by the jaguar.

The project that I worked on was comparing the stress hormone levels of jaguars within protected areas to those outside protected areas. Immediately outside of protected areas there is extensive farm land, providing the recipe for human wildlife conflict to occur. Measuring the hormone levels will give an indication of how the jaguars react within these different landscapes.

Hormone levels are measured in scat, which we locate with the help of a scat detector dog. Scat is a non-invasive detection method as well as an abundant source of information. Extracting the stress hormones from scat is the most effective method for this research as the hormones in scat give an overall picture of the jaguar’s stress levels. In addition to hormone levels, scat can be used to measure parasite diversity, indicate diet through hair and bone fragments present, and provide DNA for analysis and comparison with other individuals. The hormone in the scat starts to degrade within a few days due to environmental effects, so in this project an area is visited once to collect any scat present in the area, and then once every four days to collect fresh scat for hormone analysis.

Our scat detection dog, CJ, was hired for the project from PackLeader in Gig Harbor, WA. CJ is an endless source of energy, which makes him unsuitable as a family pet but ideal for this type of work. When surveying trails we will walk anywhere from 6km to over 12km a day in extreme conditions. It is his job to search the trails which often means exploring off trail in dense jungle. CJ is happy to do all this work because searching for scat is a game for him, and his reward is a few precious seconds with a tennis ball. We will always leave a sample or two on a trail when we search so that CJ is rewarded every time we go out and maintains his enthusiasm, even when there is no wild scat to be found.


Video courtesy of Erica Johnson

The dogs are trained on the scent that they are looking for by associating the scent of the scat with the reward. CJ is an old pro and has worked on projects finding animals such as bats and snakes as well as cats. When CJ came to Belize he was already trained on jaguar and puma, but had to be trained on the smaller cats; ocelot, margay and jaguarundi. CJ is a quick study. See him search for the new scent he has just been trained on and sit by the sample to show his handler where to look.

There are some challenges that need to be considered when working with a dog. It is easy to mistakenly train the dog on the wrong scent. Therefore the handler needs to be careful to only reward the dog on samples that he is sure of. Many of the samples used to train CJ initially were from zoos where the species and gender of the animal could be confirmed. You can see in the video that CJ wears a bell when he is working. This is to let us always know where he is even when we can’t see him searching in the jungle. The bell also lets animals know that we are around so that CJ does not surprise anything which could create a dangerous situation. Most animals want to be left alone and will leave with all the noise that we make as we are hiking through the forest. We do have to watch out for some animals, such as peccaries, which we would not want to tangle with.

One of the biggest considerations is that we have to be careful not to push CJ too hard. His drive and enthusiasm means that we have to be sure to give him breaks for water and a rest. CJ is so excited about searching that it can be challenging to convince him to take a break, even when the humans are excited to sit down for a few minutes. Swimming is an excellent way for CJ to cool off. For this reason we try and find trails with streams to survey along so that CJ can take dip. However, water is getting harder and harder to find as the dry season progresses.

The project started in March and will continue until the wet season begins when the heat and humidity combined with strong rains degrade the hormone samples in the scat much more quickly. I am eagerly anticipating the results of the hormone analysis that Bernardo will conduct when he gets back to the lab in the fall. This study will have implications for jaguar management decisions regardless of whether Bernardo finds that jaguars are more stressed in altered human landscapes, or are not overly stressed in these areas. Working in Belize I have gained a new respect for this charismatic and elusive cat as well as this diverse country.

Much Still Unknown About Gulf Spill Effects on Birds

Yesterday I participated in a webinar put on by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service on the impacts of the Gulf oil spill on migratory birds. The presenter, a scientist from the fisheries and wildlife branch of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Department, described the complex assessment process and touched on some of the results of ongoing work.


The bottom line is that there is still a considerable amount of oil not accounted for, and that beneath the silts and muds in many of the coastal wetlands in Louisiana, and beneath the sand of beaches, are several layers of oil and tar in the substrate.

Some of the coastal mangrove islands with bird colonies have been impacted; mangroves have died and birds are forced to nest on the ground, only a metre of so above sea level, exposing their nests to inundation risk. There is still evidence of some light oiling of Pelicans.

The impact on oiled birds, particularly migratory birds, appears less than it potentially was – about 8 thousand birds were observed/ recovered oiled or found dead, representing some fraction, perhaps 10%, of the total killed. Laughing Gull, Brown Pelican, (Gulf Coast breeders), Northern Gannet (Canada – Atlantic coast), and Roseate Tern were the most affected species identified.

It is common to see an oily sheen on the water, and there is concern of storms in the Gulf stirring up the sediment and exposing the oil again in the marshes.

Information on toxicology is embargoed, as are many other specific details due to litigation around damages. This may be the case for many, many years. The last fisheries have opened recently, but there is still concern about what people are eating. Every type of study imaginable is underway, but again, with no information forthcoming (e.g. toxicology, ecology). Some partial payment from BP for damages has been made, and the Coastal states have each received large sums which are being dispersed to a range of organizations.

Much more information is available on the NRDA website – though, as I mentioned, many details and results are embargoed.

It's also worthwhile to check out the USFWS Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill website that keeps on tally of birds and wildlife impacted, which is revised from time to time. It breaks down the species found.

Join the Wave!

Yesterday (June 8) was World Oceans Day and Canadian Rivers Day is coming up on June 12. What better time to celebrate water?

By taking a moment to "Like" the RBC Blue Water Project on Facebook today, you will be contributing directly to water conservation projects. RBC has already committed $50 million over ten years for fresh water protection, but when you Join The Wave you'll be adding an extra dollar to that fund. 

Help RBC Blue Water Project create a wave of 50,000 people who have joined the campaign by the end of the week!