Bolivia Trip Report 10 Oct 91 - 1 Nov 91

I spent the greater part of October in Bolivia working with Andrew Taber at his new study site in Noel Kempff National Park. The park, named for a Bolivian conservation worker who was shot after landing his small plane at a "private" airstrip in the forest, is situated on the eastern border of Bolivia separated from Brazil by the Itenez River. The park headquarters area currently consists of a former ranch house and airstrip surrounded by natural and man-made grassland for cattle grazing, all purchased by TNC and managed jointly by thedistrict parks department and an NGO in Santa Cruz called Fundacin Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN). This one of our affiliate NGO's in Bolivia.

The park is about two hours flying time west-northwest of Santa Cruz. The nearest town is 30 minutes downriver in Brazil and the nearest town in Bolivia is 4 hours downriver. Old maps of the area show many human settlements or villages in or around the park, but no one has actually lived in the area for 30 years, or since rubber tapping was no longer a viable source of income. The park is close to a half million hectares and talks are underway to double it's size. In the southern part of the park, the edge of the Brazilian shield erupts from the forest to form a 2-300 meter-high cliff that runs due west from the river for a hundred and fifty kilometers. The ridge is the edge of a huge plateau extending southward, composed of a very different habitat type from the forest below. On the ridge, close to the rock face, deciduous scrub like trees and cactus were abundant. Interestingly, a tremendous number of tapirs frequent this dry area near the cliff edge, as evidenced by the vast quantities of tapir dung piled everywhere. So much for the common belief that tapirs need water to defecate.

The rock-face provides a key asset to Dr. Taber's radio- tracking plans by allowing vast areas to be readily accessed without the need for cutting extensive trail systems or the daily use of an airplane to find the animals. My role in the project was to help Dr. Taber work out capture and radio-collaring methods for the ungulates in the area. His plan is to initially test the feasibility of tracking South American tapirs, white-lipped and collared peccaries, and brocket deer in this forest setting for a few months, and if the results are positive, expand the program next year to include more individuals and possibly additional species. The diversity and density of wildlife in the area is pretty impressive. Jaguar had been seen wandering around park headquaters three times during the month previous to my arrival. Giant anteater are frequently seen. Black spider monkeys and cebus monkeys are abundant and unafraid of people, and we heard Aotus calling every night around camp. Pink river dolphins can be seen in the river quite easily and giant otters are common and also quite curious about people. Bird life is abundant with possibly over 500 species in the park. Blue and gold and green-wing macaws could be seen throughout the forest, huge flocks of craccids were common as were individual, more terrestrial currasows, and herds of 15-20 hoatzins could be seen every day along the banks of the lake or crashing overhead through camp. Invertebrates are also quite abundant with bees, wasps, hornets, biting flies, black flies and midges dominating the daylight hours and replaced by an almost equivalent biomass of mosquitos after dark. Andrew warned me of an ant associated with one tree species that has an incredibly painful bite, but said that luckily you only get them on you every other day or so. He was right.

On the morning of my arrival in Santa Cruz, I met with Hermes Surez, the director of FAN, and then flew with Andrew to the park. The following morning we traveled up the Itenez river by boat, portaged the boat and all our gear a quarter mile to an oxbow lake and motored along the lake for another hour to get to his field site. We ran into our first tapir that afternoon about 50 meters from camp.

The initial approach to animal captures was based on a traditional indian hunting technique. Andrew had two local men (former hunters) working for him to help set up the site and trail systems. The three of them had been able to find several mineral licks and mud wallows in the area which appeared to be frequented by tapirs, peccaries or brocket deer. They had constructed either platforms or made hammock sites in the trees overlooking these areas prior to my arrival and had continued to add salt to the mineral licks every few days to prolong their usefulness. Because of this planning and work during the previous month, we were able to reasonably predict the best places to focus our attention and could begin work the first night after our arrival.

About two hours after dark that first night out (Andrew said it would be 8:00 but it wasn't until 8:20), two tapirs wandered up to the mineral lick below us and began eating the moist, salty soil. We were sitting on a platform made of sticks lashed together with lianas in a tree about 4 meters above the mineral lick. It appeared to be an adult male and female. Don Juan turned on his flashlight, illuminating what appeared to be an adult male and female I darted the female as she was eating. She displayed little to no reaction, and the male continued eating the soil below us. As the drug began to take effect, the female began to stumble and wandered away from the lick. Soon thereafter, the male disappeared into the forest. I had prepared for the possibility of the darted animal running away by attaching a 2500 foot trailer-line to the dart which would spool out from the gun as the animal moved away. This was not really neccesary since the female only traveled about 50 meters from the darting site before laying down, and we could hear her movements fairly clearly. But it did help to some degree since it was pitch black in the forest and the string lead us quickly and directly to her.

We were able to collect measurements, blood samples, and ectoparasites, and ear tag and radio collar her during this night operation. We stayed with her until she recovered from anesthesia and was able to travel well. We could only pick up a faint radio signal the following day and then lost her entirely for about a week. As the trail along the ridge was expanded, her radio signal was finally regained and she had traveled 10-15 kilometers from the area. We spent almost every night at this tree stand or one other for the next couple of weeks but never had another opportunity to dart an animal.

We also spent every day, or part of every day waiting in the trees for animals. One afternoon a herd of forty or so white-lipped peccaries showed up and I darted an adult female in the group. We radio-collared this individual as well as collected measurements, samples, and based on palpation, I estimated her to be nearing the fourth month of gestation with one fetus. The herd stayed close-by during the procedure and she rejoined the group following her recovery from anethesia. Actually, it was quite difficult to get the herd to move away enough for us to safely work on the female. One person had to maintain watch the entire time and chase away the curious and/or protective herdmates. The following morning they were all at the salt lick again, including our collared female. But on the subsequent day, they could only be located by radio-tracking from the ridge top, having traveled 10-15 kilometers away.

We were unable to catch any brocket deer or collared peccaries during my time there. We saw fresh tracks of red brocket deer only twice during the three weeks and never saw an animal. We did get a shot at one collared peccary at a mud wallow, but the dart bounced out and failed to inject. We saw three more tapirs during the time there but always while we were hiking through the forest and their reaction to being startled precluded the possibility of darting.

The trip turned out to be extremely successful and productive. This is the first time a South American tapir has been radio-collared and while it was not the first time that white-lipped peccaries have been collared, it was the first time they have been actually tracked in a forest setting (always being lost at other sites). Both of these species at least initially appear to have tremendous home ranges. Dr. Taber's work could result in the first definitive information regarding forest utilization and needs of these species. The trailer line system was adapted from bow hunting and this trial was the first use in immobilizing wildlife. The system may prove to significantly enhance the handling of forest dwelling species. We also took the time to discuss immobilization procedures extensively and work out protocols that are safe and reasonable for Dr. Taber to continue using following my departure. I intentionally avoided the use of dangerous narcotics typically used with captive ungulates so we could work out a safe and effective field technique for he and his staff. After working closely with Dr. Taber during the month, I could leave with complete confidence in his abilities and professional approach in handling the animals. We also worked out strategies for safely netting, trapping, and handling a variety of species in the future.

For 1992, Dr. Taber and I are planning to take a comprehensive look at the health of peccary populations at two or three different sites in Bolivia. We will be formulating a strategy this winter with the hopes of initiating work later next year. The plan would start with sampling four to six herds in the eastern and northern parts of Bolivia, and involve immobilizing 10 - 15 individuals in each herd.

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