He Really Bought A Zoo

The Telegraph interviews the man behind the movie: 'There were lots of times when I thought, “What have I done?”’ Mee says now. 'But when the jaguar escaped it was the first time I realised there were lives at stake.’

Ground-truthing the Nicaraguan Jaguar

Panthera's February Newsletter is out, with some exciting news for them. They're reporting the first Panthera camera trap photo of a jaguar taken in Nicaragua. You can see their photo here. Ground-truthing is providing verification of the existence of a species whose populations have not been carefully observed and studied. Camera traps are extremely helpful to conservation science.

After decades of decline and without a documented sighting for over 15 years, it was thought that jaguars were extinct in western Nicaragua. Thanks to the camera traps set up by Paso Pacifico intern Robert Alexander Euwe, a graduate student in wildlife management, the male jaguar pictured below busted that myth in 2010.

In August of 2010, our intern, Robert Alexander Euwe, caught this jaguar in a camera trap in the Paso del Istmo, where we work on the Pacifico slop of Nicaragua. Not only do camera traps provide undeniable evidence of jaguars' presence in western Nicaragua, establishing the importance of Paso del Istmo as a migratory corridor, their unique pelt markings allow biologists to identify individual members of the species.

You can learn more about our jaguar conservation program here. Or read our other blog posts on jaguars here.

Congratulations to Panthera!

Iniciativa Carey del Pacífico Oriental (ICAPO)

Until recently, the hawksbill sea turtle was thought to be extinct in the eastern Pacific, but thanks to discoveries made by the Iniciativa Carey del Pacífico Oriental (ICAPO), we know now that, with concentrated conservation efforts, it's not too late to bring the Hawskbill Sea Turtle back from the brink of extinction.

This great comic is designed to remind people of just that:

Juntos podemos traer de vuelta a la tortuga carey del Pacífico Oriental del borde de la extinción.

You can learn more at the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative (ICAPO) website.

ICAPO is also on Facebook.

Meet Miguel Ordenana!

Miguel Ordeñana, the wildlife biologist leading our jaguar conservation efforts, has begun blogging at Urban Carnivores, where he'll be reporting on big cats in LA's Griffith Park, and in the Paso del Istmo.

Be sure to tune in as he discusses wildlife corridors, big cats and their prey, camera traps, and more.

NGO PRETOMA in the New York Times

Our friends at the Costa Rican NGO PRETOMA got a mention in today's NYTimes Green blog piece on illegal fishing.

PRETOMA is focused on marine conservation and research. They have been instrumental in helping us with our sustainable fisheries program.

Mother Jaguar and Cubs

Mongabay.com's Picture of the Day is from Bolivia.

This jaguar mother was photographed with her two cubs in the Kaa Iya National Park in Bolivia.

"Kaaiyana’s tolerance of observers is a testimony to the absence of hunters in this area, and her success as a mother means there is plenty of food for her and her cubs to eat," said John Polisar, coordinator of Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Jaguar Conservation Program. WCS released the photos.

December Newsletter Online

Conservation in ACTION
Launched earlier this year, the Proyecto Tesoros de Nicaragua ( Proyecto TESÓN), a joint effort to clean up the San Juan River catchment, has already demonstrated how public-private partnerships can work to build a more pristine and sustainable Nicaragua.

There are now three Ambassadors of the Environment working around the clock to clean up garbage near the estuary and along the beach, and to monitor the volume and make up of debris. Proyecto TESÓN's Ambassadors also lead seminars for local students on the importance of environmental stewardship, and recruit young people to participate in cleaning up local waterways....

Team member spotlight
Paso Pacifico's executive director Sarah Otterstrom, mother of three, is a PhD ecologist who studied the effects of agricultural burning on the dry tropical forests of southern Nicaragua.

She grew up in in the woods at the edge of high desert country in eastern Washington, did her undergraduate work in Costa Rica, where she led tourism expeditions through the rainforest canopy, and completed her graduate studies at the University of California at Davis....

Read the full newsletter online.