Precious Print!!

A variety of mammals are known to reside within the Yachana Reserve, making the mammal surveys an important aspect of the work done by GVI Amazon. Currently the mammal activity on the reserve is monitored through Visual Encounter Surveys and sand padding for prints. Although these surveys don’t always yield great amounts of data each time and require a lot of patience I have learned over the past five weeks how rewarding mammal work can be. While checking the sand pads at the most remote mammal transects, we were presented with a print from an Ocelot, a rare cat in the reserve. The print was measured, photographed and a wax mold was made. Evidence of Ocelots has not been recorded for a number of years and this exciting find demonstrates the importance of mammal surveys within the reserve. We are eager for the arrival of our new camera traps for the next phase of the mammal project and look forward to the amazing things we might find!

Shannon Davis - GVI Amazon volunteer, Feb-Mar 2011

Precious Print!!