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Now that you know all about
camera traps, it's time to try your hand at using them
to count jaguars. In some jaguar strongholds, camera traps
might photograph 40 jaguars in a given month. But does
this mean that 40 jaguars live in that area? Or could
it be that one jaguar likes the sound of the camera shutter
so much that it passes back and forth 40 times?
Every jaguar's markings are different, which is how conservation biologists tell them apart when they are looking through hundreds of photos from camera traps. As you try to Spot the Difference between them, use the jaguar’s rosettes, the circular markings, to find similarities between photographs. Pick one distinctive grouping and try to find it in a different picture.
Good Luck!
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*Data for this activity is based on research
in the Coxcomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
in Belize
by WCS conservation biologists Scott Silver and Linde Ostro.
Once scientists figure out how many jaguars they
caught in their traps, they use this information to estimate the size
of the jaguar population. Once they know that, they can estimate population
density. Continue to
Map them Out to
see how these calculations are made and how habitat can play a role
in population estimates.
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What were some of the challenges
that you faced as you tried to spot the difference among the
jaguars? |
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©
2006 Wildlife Conservation Society.
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