I Met the Emperor of the Amazon

Danny Catt — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:03:08 -0800

The Emperor Tamarin

There are few things I enjoy more than exploring a new part of the world, listening to new sounds, observing new species of wildlife and just poking around and seeing what I can see in a new place. One region of the world I have long been keen to explore and learn more about is the Amazon basin. Although not a native Peruvian, Krista (the BCIT FWR graduate I am visiting) has been living in the Amazon region of Peru for the past three years and is incredibly knowledgeable about the wildlife and natural history of the area.

Krista Adamek, at the Los Amigos Research Station, Peru

I was keen to explore so we were out walking the trails of the research station fairly early in the morning. It became obvious very quickly how important the trail system is at the station. Without the patchwork pattern of trails it would be virtually impossible to make your way through the thick tropical forest. The trails allow you to travel more easily and help you see where your feet are going to land… as there are snakes and sharp thorny plants to contend with!

For the past three years Krista has been working on a research project for WWF (World Wildlife Fund aka World Wide Fund for Nature) focussing on a variety of wildlife species including high profile carnivores like the Jaguar but also focusing on a range of birds including three different species of Macaw (Scarlet, Red-and-green and Blue-and-yellow). Macaws are the world’s largest parrots and unfortunately many of the world's 17 species are at risk. The illegal international trade of parrots as well as habitat loss are two of the major threats to Macaws. Another threat described by Krista is the loss of one of the Macaws favourite nesting trees and food sources, the Aguaje palm. The problem is that it is not only the Macaws that like the fruits of the Aguaje palm, the local people do too. Due to the size of the trees (some 30 metres or more) the locals are finding it easier to simply cut the tree down than climbing up to pick the fruits.

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

To learn more about these birds, Krista and her colleagues have a large number of Macaws tagged with radio transmitters so she and her team can follow their seasonal movements. In North America (for the most part) we have 4 seasons while in the Amazon there are really only two main seasons, the wet and the dry. One of the tagged Macaws traveled a fair distance over to Bolivia but then made its way back to the area between the Rio Madre de Dios and the Rio Los Amigos.

Wildlife movements never cease to amaze me. You can learn more about the movement patterns of some of our northern species of birds by checking out the Global Connections page of this website. Dr. Sean Boyd, a research scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, describes some of the migration patterns of species that he studies, and we will soon have other short essays by other contributors. Bird movement and migration are great examples of global connections. Some species, like the macaws, move short distances, while others, like the neotropical migrants we know so well in North America (warblers, vireos, hummingbirds, etc) may travel many thousands of miles!

Cicada Tubes, Amazon Region, Peru

As we walked through the forest I was quite intrigued by the tall, thin tubes of mud sticking up from the ground (I thought they were small ant hills) but Krista pointed out that they were in fact the above ground part of a cicada burrow. I know we have cicadas in Canada with an amazing life history but I know virtually nothing about these tropical ones. The Amazonian cicadas apparently have a mysterious 17 year life history, but that is about all I could find out. I will need to do some research to learn more.

You want me to go up there?

When wildlife species are tagged with transmitters, the researcher will use a small antenna and a receiver to pick up the frequency of the different tagged individuals. The researcher can then plot the locations on a map to see where the individuals are spending their time. One of the things a researcher must do though is get to a high vantage point to scan as far as possible to try and locate the tagged individuals. The process is called ‘radio-telemetry’and it is used all over the world to learn more about the movement patterns of wildlife. In North America a broad range of wildlife species are ‘collared’ or ‘fitted’ with transmitters and then researchers use radio receivers to track the individuals movements. Bears, deer, wild cats (eg. cougars and lynx), as well as birds such as snow geese, seabirds like albatross and shearwaters and large raptors (eagles and osprey) have all been followed using this technique.

The Tower, Los Amigos Research Station, Peru

In the Los Amigos research area Krista and her colleagues use vantage points as well as small planes and ultralights to follow the movements of their collared animals. In fact, Krista’s brother is a pilot and has worked alongside Krista helping with data collection. If you don’t have a plane though, another way to get the telemetry locations is to climb to the top of towers and use the receiver to get locations. Krista asked if I was open to climbing to the top of one of the towers that she uses and I jumped at the opportunity! But… jimmeny crickets (excuse my language) I didn’t realize how tall the tower actually was!! Yikes…

The climb up was safe as we used a special harness to inch (or metre) our way to the top. There was no chance of actually falling and injuring ourselves but it was just the height of the tower that was the issue. From the bottom it looked like no problem… but jeeshhh it was 60 metres high (I think that is what she said)! As I approached the top I was trying to ensure that Krista didn’t see how pale & wide-eyed I was … but once I got to the top I realized that was not an issue as she was at the bottom waiting for me to reach the upper platform.

The View from the Top

The view from the top of the tower was amazing … and we could hear macaws, falcons, songbirds and other forest creatures and could see for miles in every direction. There was even a rainbow stretched across the sky! Unfortunately though our time at the top was limited as it was late afternoon and we didn’t want to be trekking back to the station in the dark. The trip down was faster and easier than the trip up… but not too fast!

On our way back to the station we met up with a troop of Emperor Tamarins that suddenly appeared and then left as quickly as they came. When we got back to the station we had a very enjoyable dinner chatting with some of the other researchers at the station from different regions of Peru as well as other South American countries.

After dinner I recorded an interview with Krista which you are welcome to listen to:

Download MP3

Catt-Trax 2 - Emporer Tamarin

I Met the Emperor of the Amazon