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Research
Who Runs AmazonCam Tambopata?
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance generates and applies scientific knowledge to conserve animals, plants, and habitats worldwide. As one of the largest zoo-based multidisciplinary research efforts in the world, the the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance carries out research vital to the conservation of animals, plants, and habitats in over 35 countries. AmazonCam Tambopata is overseen by the Population Sustainability group, who work on wildlife population biology and sustainability, with a strong focus in the Peruvian Amazon. https://science.sandiegozoo.org/
Rainforest Expeditions is an ecotourism company managing three lodges in the Tambopata rainforest, in southeast Peru. It was born in 1989 from a conservation initiative, giving rise to the Tambopata Research Center, located in the middle of the Tambopata National Reserve. From the beginning, Rainforest Expeditions has committed to sustainable activities, working with native communities, Brazil nut harvesters and sponsoring science projects. Most recently, Rainforest Expeditions has created Wired Amazon, a collection of citizen science projects including AmazonCam Tambopata. To find out more about Wired Amazon and Rainforest Expeditions, and to see how you can earn Travel Credits to visit the project in Peru by classifying our camera trap images, please visit http://www.perunature.com/wiredamazon/
AIDER (Asociación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Integral) is a local NGO from Puerto Maldonado city. It is focused on environment conservation and sustainability in Peru, specially with forestry resources and social responsibility in small producers from native communities. AIDER is providing logistic and human support to AmazonCam Tambopata.
The University of Suffolk in the United Kingdom carries out research on wildlife distributions and conservation, with a focus on the Peruvian Amazon. https://www.uos.ac.uk/people/mark-bowler.
Where is AmazonCam Tambopata?
Our array of remote cameras covers over 200 square kilometers of lowland Amazonian rainforest, spanning two protected areas in Peru; the Tambopata National Reserve and the Bahuaja Sonene National Park. Both are located in the department of Madre de Dios, in the Tambopata province. We also have study sites in the Manu National Park, also in Madre de Dios.
Biodiversity and the Distribution of Animals
To our knowledge, this is the largest permanent camera trap monitoring program in South America. This network of cameras, on a huge trail system known as 'The Big Grid', will reveal the distribution of wildlife through the Tambopata National Reserve and the Bajahua Sonene National Park. The cameras will be out year-round, and year-on-year, we will be able to look at seasonal movements of animals and will see any changes through time that signify the decline or recovery of species.
Jaguar Demography
Top predators play a fundamental role in regulating the ecology of tropical rainforests and studying the big cats of the Tambopata Basin is one of our key goals. Jaguars often have very large and irregularly-shaped territories, which makes estimating their numbers fraught with difficulties. However, we can identify individual jaguars through their unique patterns of spots, and can track individuals through time to see how long they hold their territories, how long they live, and when they have cubs.
Canopy Camera Trapping
The rainforest canopy is one of the last natural frontiers on earth. More than half of the mammals in the Amazon live in the canopy, yet few camera trap surveys have ever considered arboreal species. We aim to integrate assessments of terrestrial and arboreal mammal communities, producing a three dimensional picture of wildlife distributions. We climb trees to position cameras at different heights in trees to get a better understanding of how species use the canopy. Our canopy work extends through the Tambopata Reserve and the Manu National Park.