Saving Wildlife in the Colombian Orinoco

Manacacias River - A Good Place for Wildlife

2011-03-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

The Manacacias River on Mururito Reserve is a wonderful example of habitat needed for so many species of animals. Work to protect the Manacacias River area and its ecosystem insures a safe place for many species of animals and plants to live as they have for hundreds or thousands of years on into a thriving future.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Beautiful Swallowtail Butterflies

2011-02-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

These gorgeous swallowtail butterflies can be seen here at Mururito Nature Reserve on the sandy mud next to a pool of water.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Where are the Termites?

2011-02-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

Photo by Sheryl Todd

Houston Zoo ~ February 6, 2011

I'm sorry about the poor focus here, but it's the only close-up I got of this giant anteater's active nose and mouth. The long tongue kept zipping in and out, and I'm sorry I didn't get a good picture showing it! I had no idea what the muzzle actually looked like until I zoomed in. Did you? See more giant anteaters on this blog. This is one of the special animals being preserved at Mururito Nature Reserve in Colombia.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Giant Anteater in a Camera-trap Photo

2011-01-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

You may have to click on this image to enlarge it and see that it's not all black! This giant anteater was captured by the camera on its early-morning ramble through the forest at Mururito Nature Reserve.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Footprints of the Giant Anteater

2011-01-21T15:35:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

These footprints may look like the imprint of a human's shoe, but they are not. They're the footprints of a giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) found on the reserve at Mururito.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Cayo Tigre on the Mururito Reserve

2011-01-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

"Tigre" in Spanish is another name for the jaguar. This endangered cat needs habitat such as that found on the Mururito Reserve in order to survive in our new century. While careful planning can allow agriculture and wild wetlands to coexist within a greater region, planning must be done carefully to allow the existence of large tracts of undisturbed habitat. Only in this way can large predators such as jaguars and pumas maintain the habits that allow them to survive along with man. A large predator needs a large home range, complete with the natural elements and food animals that have sustained it throughout its evolution.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Early Hours on the Columbian Orinoco Plains

2011-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Rare and Endangered Orinoco Crocodile

2011-01-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

The rare and endangered Orinoco crocodile is among the animals that is beginning to be protected at Mururito. It is one of the rarest and most endangered of the South American crocodiles. It is also one of the largest, at a size of up to 18 feet long! This beautiful animal is Colombia's largest predator. At one time the crocodiles reached 23 feet in length, but overhunting has reduced the population, leaving only the smaller animals. The Colombia census found fewer than 100 individuals left in all of the Orinoco region. In Venezuala, there is a recovery plan that is working quite well, but so far nothing of this sort has been established in Colombia. About 20 years ago, the estimated population in Venezuela was about 200 crocodiles.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Proceeds from your purchases help fund the work at Mururito Reserve.

Giant Anteater

2010-11-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Although this photo was taken in a zoo (Bioparque Los Ocarros, near Villavicencio, Colombia), the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), is one of the rare mammals found at Mururito Nature Reserve; it lives both inside the gallery forests and out in the open savannas, searching mostly for underground termites.

Photo-trapping at Mururito Hacienda Reserve

2010-11-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Check out the photo trap album on Facebook. Deer, giant anteater, agouti, even an ocelot! We're still waiting for the tapirs, which appear to be very rare in this area.

Savannah Armadillo in the Colombian Llanos

2010-10-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Much smaller and darker in color than the first two armadillos posted on this site is the savanna armadillo, another strange mammal that inhabits the Orinoco plains and is still quite common at Mururito Nature Reserve. This animal is being held for a photo, but will soon wander away into its grassland habitat.

To see other armadillo pictures on this blog, click the label "armadillo" below.

Also, take a look at Mururito's Facebook Page. Emilio has added lots of photos to the album.

Greater Long-nosed Armadillo

2010-09-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

The greater long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus kappleri) is a large representative of the family that inhabits the gallery forest and tall savannas of the Amazon and Orinoco regions. Although this species is tagged on the IUCN Red List of Endangered species as "Least Concern," all animals in the Orinoco are potentially at risk due to the rise of industrial use of the land. The population trend for this interesting animal is given by the IUCN as "Unknown." Deforestation is a particular threat to the greater long-nosed armadillo, because it cannot survive in savannas or open lands without nearby forest cover.

Armadillo Set Free in Nature Reserve

2010-09-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Second in size to the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), is this rare greater long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus kappleri). Don't worry, no one was harming this animal! The armadillo was caught in a fall pit. It played dead perfectly for a moment until these two friends found it and set it free at Mururito Nature Reserve.

According to the IUCN Red List, "This relatively large armadillo is restricted to the tropical moist lowland forests of the Orinoco and Amazon river basins. In savanna areas it is restricted to forest patches. The species constructs burrows in well-drained soil. The females typically give birth to two young (Eisenberg 1989)."

Award from Tapir Preservation Fund

2010-09-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

This week the project, "Saving Wildlife in the Colombian Orinoco" received a $1,000.00 "Heidi Frohring Memorial Fund" award from the Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF) for a proposal entitled, "Saving the Orinoco Tapirs in Eastern Colombia." This award came as a result of TPF's call for proposals in July 2010.
The objectives for this award are to promote local lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris spp.) conservation through research and education, to educate and engage local communities in the conservation of ecosystems, nature reserves, and the sustainable use of wildlife, and to help with the survival of the last local tapir poplulation and other endangered mammal species.

The Colombian Orinoco plains and ecosystems, also known as the Llanos, or Llanos Orientales, are a unique, diverse, and vulnerable area. The entire eco-region is shared with Venezuela, divided by the mighty Orinoco River and many secondary rivers such as the Meta, Tomo, and Vichada. In the center of the Department of Meta, along the Manacacias River and close to the fast developing City of Puerto Gaitán, are many areas of natural habitat. These areas contain large gallery forests, flooded forests, marshes, ponds, oxbow lagoons, palm forests, diverse savannas, and serranías. Several of these areas belong to private land owners or indigenous communities. Thousands of hectares are still in their original state. Unfortantately, these thousands of hectares are vulnerable due to over-use, excessive hunting, savanna fires, and other extractive practices by local communities. Other serious threats to this area are due to expansion of the oil industry and the planting of industrial crops, particularly oil palm and rubber trees.

Project Director Emilio Constantino has been working on a reserve in the Orinoco area in a location where the last tapirs survive, along with a family of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). Other wildlife still found here are giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus), pumas (Puma concolor), ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), jaguars (Panthera onca), white-tailed deer, capybaras, red howler monkeys, foxes, and other endangered fauna. The recent killing of a beautiful male cougar (one of the last remaining in the region), and a critically endangered Orinoco crocodile has suggested the importance of educational workshops to discuss the value of preserving the local habitat and its wildlife. This thousand-dollar grant will help cover the costs for two such locally-attended workshops and related educational materials as well as taking further steps to assess the tapir polulation on the reserve and its connecting habitat areas.

Two Capybaras

2010-09-06T16:42:00.001-07:00

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

Capybaras are one of the animals that are at risk in the Llanos Orientales, or Eastern Plains of Colombia.