For over two years, Head Park Ranger, Sipriano Canti, has managed a BFREE research project to document wildlife movements throughout the reserve. At all times, he has eight to twelve Panthera wildlife cameras strategically located to capture patterns and activities of mammals and sometimes birds.
Canti has decades of experience with documenting wildlife using these types of cameras. He has worked with visiting researchers focused on different species and to answer different research questions. Therefore, he knows where to place cameras to best document activity.
With the development of the cacao agroforestry program at BFREE, he saw a unique opportunity to find out which animals are utilizing the cacao and when.
He began placing the cameras in several of the cacao blocks in areas where he anticipated a lot of movement. And the results have been successful. He routinely spots jaguars, tapirs, tayras, agoutis, coatis, deer as well as ground birds like common paraques and great currasow. The cameras also capture the movements of humans who utilize the property, which becomes important documentation for the protection program.
These cameras provide proof that the cacao agroforestry system provides healthy habitat for a diversity of species. As the farm grows and changes, we are excited to see how the density and diversity of wildlife is also changed.