Explorer´s Inn Newsletter - October / November 2008

Explorer’s Inn Newsletter is produced by the Resident Naturalist volunteers at Explorer’s Inn.  More information about the Resident Naturalist Program including some of the volunteers' tasks and duties and a short introduction of the people who are currently partaking in this program can be found on the final page.

In this issue:

• Wildlife observation – jaguar!
• Animal records in the jungle
• Demons and heroes of the canopy
• History of Explorer’s Inn

Wonderful Wildlife Observation - JAGUAR

On 25th September some tourists with one guide had a big luck and they saw one from the biggest cat of the world.  Those people had an excellent chance to observe (for mostly 5 minutes and quite near) a very rare wildlife species – jaguar.

On the peaceful boat trip from Puerto Maldonado to the lodge boat driver Edil suddenly stopped the boat and guide Alan spotted jaguar on the river bank! Jaguar was feeding on the grass, so there was time to come closer.  Boat came near the river bank quietly. Jaguar was still eating the grass and tourists had time to observe and take photos. After few minutes jaguar started to vomit the grass and after that it disappeared quickly. It was a wonderful experience for everybody on the boat.

Keep reading and you will know some interesting information about this biggest cat in the New World. Photos on the main page and in this article were taken by William Dickinson, tourist from Australia.

The carnivore that overcomes prey in a single bound

Jaguar (Panthera onca) the only very large spotted cats in the New World, the second biggest – ocelot (Felis pardalis) is much smaller. From whole of the world, only tigers and lions are larger. Body length is 1.1 – 1.9 m and weight is from 31 to 158 kg. Males are usually larger than females.

The South American Indian name for this mammal, “jaguara”, is said to mean “the carnivore that overcomes its prey in a single bound.
It is both nocturnal and diurnal mammal, mostly terrestrial and solitary. Feeds chiefly on the larger mammals, such as capybara, peccary and deer, also on turtles, caiman, birds, fish and smaller mammals like sloths and agoutis. Jaguars hunt at any time of the day or night. They are fond of walking on made-man trails at night (as are other cats). Jaguars often use wet or waterside habitats where they hunt their prey like capybaras, etc. So the large cat tracks that you can find on river beaches are usually those of jaguars.  In remote areas free from hunting, jaguars are most often seen when they lie stretched out on log over the water in the morning sun. They rest, and carry their kills to feed, in dense vegetation. Jaguars often wander for long distance and they are agile climbers. They don’t hesitate to enter to water they are skilled at fishing.

Males patrol their territory regularly, depositing their droppings in conspicuous places and scratching trees to warn off other males. Adults are usually sexually mature at about 3 years. Litters normally contain 2-3 kittens, produced after 95-110 days of gestation. The young stay with the mother for about two years, when they leave to find mates. Jaguars can be found in the same areas with pumas and they apparently coexist peacefully.

To become extinct?

Jaguars are rare or extinct in many parts of their former range (for example extinct in Uruguay and SW United States) – from overhunting for the fur trade, loss of habitat by deforestation, persecution by ranchers and probably loss of their prey. Like other big predators, they need for their life, hunting and reproduction large protected areas mainly unattached by human influence.

ANIMAL WORLD RECORDS

Records which you might to see in jungle around
Records in animal world, in length, body size or body weight, are usually very fascinating. We cannot observe the largest, heaviest or smallest animal here, but if you will have a little bit luck, you can observe the sleepiest or slowest mammal or largest toad in the world!  There is a list of some animals which has some world record and which you might see in Tambopata National Reserve.

Mammals
Slowest mammal

The Three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) of tropical South America has an average speed of 1.8-2.4 (6-8 ft) per minute (or 0.1-0.16 km/h, 0.07-0.1 mph). But in the trees it can accelerate to 4.6 m (15 ft) per minute (or 0.27 km/h, 0.17 mph).

Sleepiest mammal

Some armadillos (Dasypodidae), opossums (Didelphidae) and sloths (Bradypodidae and Megalonychidae) spend up to 80% of their lives sleeping or dozing. The least active of all mammals are probably the 3 species of Three-toed Sloth in the genus Bradypus.

Shortest gestation period

Birds

Fastest flying bird

The Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)is the fastest living creature, reaching record speed levels when stooping from great heights during territorial displays or catching prey in mid-air. Speeds, recorded in experiments, of up to 350 km/h (217 mph) at a 45° angle of stoop have been disputed, but there is a little doubt that its maximum speed is at least 200 km/h (124 mph). This resident from Andes is in Amazonia primarily in winter along large rivers.

Heaviest prey

The heaviest individual bird of prey on record is a female Harpy eagle (Harpija harpyja) weighting 12.3 kg (27 lb). The mean weight for this species is 4.5 kg (10 lb).

Keenest vision

It has been calculated that a large bird of prey can see at least three times further than humans. Under ideal conditions, a Peregrine falcon (also the fastest flying bird) can spot a pigeon from distance more than 8 km (5 miles).
                                                
Reptiles and amphibians

Smallest crocodilian

The maximum length of the Dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) is not more than 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) for males and 1.2 m (4 ft) for females.

Largest toad

The largest known toad in the world is the Cane or Marine toad (Bufo marinus) of South America and Australia. Average specimens weigh approximately 0.45 kg (1 lb). In 1991 was found one male weighting 2.65 kg (5 lb 13 oz) and measured 38 cm (1 ft 3 in) from snout to vent or 53.9 cm (1 ft 9 in) when fully extended.

Most poisonous

The brightly coloured poison-arrow frogs ( Dendrobathesand Phyllobathes) of South and Central America secrete some of the deadliest biological toxins known, and are the world’s most poisonous animals.

Heaviest snake

The mean length of Anaconda (Eunectes   murinus) is 5.5-6.1 m. A female shot in 1960 in Brazil was 8.45 long (27 ft 9 in) long with 111 cm (44 in) girth, and must have weighted almost 227 kg (500 lb).

STRANGLER FIGS:
DEMONS OR HEROES OF THE CANOPY?

Have you visited lake Cocococha yet?  And did you take a photo of the huge tree near the lake? Life cycle of Strangler fig is very fascinating, not only for researchers. If you will continue in reading you will know more from the interesting life of that demon or hero of forest canopy.

High in the canopy, a bird dropping splats on branch. A tiny seed from the dropping gets lodged there, and the next rain washes it down amongst the moss growing in the trees main crotch. Soon the seed germinates, and a strangler fig seedling begins its unlikely life. Assuming the tree crotch where it grows has a large enough deposit of soil and retains enough water to keep the seedling alive, the young fig will soon begin to send roots down its host tree trunk toward the ground. These figs are called “stranglers”, because roots that descend and wrap the host trunk fuse together, forming a basket like network. They appear to strangle, but actually are forming rigid rings around the host’s trunk that restrict its further growth. Sometimes, this may kill the host, and the fig may growth to stand on its own as the dead tree rots away.

This strategy seems to be an affective one for taking a shortcut to the canopy. Strangler figs in the genus Ficus have evolved their unique growth habits as an alternative way to get to the highlight zone of the canopy. So are these strangler figs with their demonic strategy killing trees and taking over the over canopy? This hardly seems to be the case, because doesn’t exist forest where figs are dominant. The reason is that their lifestyle also has numerous bottlenecks and limitations. First of all, the number of suitable establishment sites in canopy is low, since a position such a large knot-hole or tree crotch with adequate nutrients and water retention is needed. Second, the problem of seed dispersal to these small canopy sites is also formidable obstacle. Figs have evolved to produce large crops of fruits with many small seeds that attract birds, bats and other arboreal animal to maximize their seed dispersal. Still, as one moves away from the fruiting fig, the density of seed rain drops off very quickly. Even after seeds manage to land in a tree crown, there are other complications, such as seed harvesting ants. Finally, canopy trees vary greatly in their likelihood of having good fig establishment sites because of  differences in architecture, bark type, and epiphyte load, and this is further limits the density of good establishment sites.

With all these obstacles to overcome, it does seem rather heroic when a tiny seed in a bird dropping grows into a giant strangler fig. Their hemi-epiphytic growth habit itself is highly specialized, but interestingly, different strangler fig species show even further specialization. Only few species regularly become freestanding trees, while the rest invest less in supportive roots and rely on their host tree for continued support. Some species show preference for establishment in the highest, sunniest canopy positions, whereas others do best growing on shady mid-canopy trees.  We have much left to learn about how such specialization can evolve in a complex ecosystem like a rainforest.

Strangler figs may have some negative impact on host trees, but their most significant role in rainforest communities is providing year-round food resources for frugivorous vertebrates. Although individual trees ripen their crops of figs in synchrony, fruiting is dispersed throughout the year at the population level. This has to do it with the fig’s relationship with mutualistic pollinator wasps (for more information see a display in the Discovery centre), but its consequences for the vertebrate community is very significant since animals can reliably find fruiting figs even during seasons when other fruit is scarce. Thus, figs have been identified as “keystone species” in rainforest throughout the tropics.Demons or heroes? Of course they are neither. Strangler figs are just another group of organisms that has found a unique way to make a living in the forest canopy.

HISTORY OF EXPLORER'S INN
AND THE RESIDENT NATURALIST PROGRAM

As you probably know Explorer’s Inn is situated inside the Tambopata National Reserve near the Tambopata river, about 60 km upstream of Puerto Maldonado. The lodge was the first of many in this area and it all began when Peruvian Safaris bought this land where the lodge is situated from the Peruvian Government in 1975. The land originally belonged to a small farm, which explains why you can see many different kinds of fruit trees around the lodge area; orange trees, lemon trees, pineapples, bananas etc.  The Armas family that farmed the land here moved across the river.  The lodge opened its doors to the first visitors in 1976.  One year later the Tambopata Reserved Zone was created, which was an area of 5500 ha where use of the natural resources was protected.  This has since evolved into the Tambopata National Reserve which covers 270000 ha and has much better protection.

World records in a biodiversity

In 1979 a group of researchers came to Explorer’s Inn to survey the flora and fauna of the area.  As a result of their studies, they concluded that due to the species richness of the area and the number of rare and endangered species present, it was vitally important that this area is protected.  This area is one of the areas with the greatest biodiversity in the world.  The area around the lodge holds several world records for the number of species that are present.  601 species of birds have been recorded within an 8 km radius of the lodge, 152 species of dragonflies and over 1200 species of butterflies.  So why do we have some of the richest biodiversity on the planet here?  Tambopata is at a habitat crossroads.  We have the high lands of the Andes to the west, the pampas grasslands of Bolivia to the south and the expanse of Amazonia to the north and east.  This results in a rich variety of habitats at this point in the middle.  For example, there are at least 8 different forest types around Explorer’s Inn alone.

The lodge is committed to sustainable tourism. This means that Explorer’s Inn attempts to minimize any impact that its activities may have on the natural environment. For example, the electricity used in this building for the lighting and for the kitchen is produced by solar power.  All organic waste is collected, taken over the river and fed to the pigs in the local community and all non-organic waste is taken to Puerto Maldonado for disposal.

La Torre Community

The local community is La Torre Community which comprises of 34 families, most of which are not indigenous to the region and moved from the highlands in the 1960s.  Explorer’s Inn has a good relationship with La Torre Community; for example some of the members of the community work here at the lodge and the lodge buys some of its food from the community.  Lo buy our papayas, bananas and yucca from across the river.  Also, members of the community can get a lift into town and back on the lodge’s boats and of course, the community allows us to go over and visit them and see how they live.

Research in Explorer’s Inn

Explorer’s Inn has a long history of research into the ecology of the area; for example some parts of the forest have been studied for the last 25 years.  A lot has been found out about the complex relationships of the rainforest but there is still a lot more that we do not know; in fact it has been estimated that up to 90% of the species of the rainforest are still unknown to science! The resident naturalist program allows visiting scientists to carry out research projects as well as to help out with the management of the reserve.  The lodge provides accommodation for the scientists and therefore is supporting research into the rainforest environment.  This arrangement also allows the visiting scientists an opportunity to communicate their research to a wider audience and gives the tourists a deeper understanding of the rainforest ecosystem and the research that is being carried out.

Resident Naturalist Program

The Resident Naturalist Program has a rich history dating back to 1984 and is one of the oldest and perhaps the most successful programs of its type in Amazonia. Resident naturalists are mostly graduated biologist or students come from different corners of the globe. One part of their work is to help many researchers with their (ongoing) field work and be a liason between the lodge and its research/monitoring and NGOs who use this data, i.e., Frankfurt Zoological Society (ongoing monitoring of Giant otters) and TReeS (Tambopata Reserve Society) which has a variety of ongoing eco-tourism/conservation strategies. And next carry out many ongoing monitoring programs (such as caimans, macaws, weather, etc.) to observe for changes over time.

Resident Naturalists also give talks to the visitors, maintain and improve the displays in the Discovery Centre and help with maintenance of the forest trails.  Since its initiation the Resident Naturalist Program has added greatly to the scientific knowledge of the rainforest (which is evident from the XXX scientific reports) and has provided an added dimension to the lodge for its visitors.

These days Resident Naturalist is: