Wow, sounds like you really need to watch your step out there!! Found a baby snake in my garage the other day….just a harmless little black garter snake…no rattles!!! Be safe and look forward to hearing about your beautiful jaguars soon!

Hi Christine,
Yes, we need to be careful!!! We are planning one jaguar capture companion for radio tagging in August. Keep coming, hope to had good news soon!
Cheers,
Fernando

This is a great blog and it sounds like the team is extremely busy collecting and interpreting data. I enjoyed the part where you sort of give an identification quiz. Shows the teaching side of conservation. I have met several people during my own master’s program who have done jaguar work including tracking, identification, and fecal sample DNA analysis. I, myself, have not but I am curious about your project. I am sure you have the following information which I am about to ask somewhere, if not on the web. Could you provide the readers of your blog with the research question(s) you hope to answer with the field work? Why is this area of Brazil important for conservation work particularly for these large cats? How large are the fragments you are interested in and what is the composition of the matrix surrounding them? Does the composition of the matrix affect migration potential of the large cat populations? What are the leading threats to these populations?

Best,
Tanja

Hey Fernando!
So, I’ve read some of your blogs and I find the work you do not only extremely interesting but also extremely admirable. How did you get working with Jaguar Detectives? I understand that you have a cooperative project with Columbia University, are there any other organizations that you have similar partnerships with?

Dear Tanja,
Thank you very much for this comment! In witch area was your master’s? So let’s start from the beginning. When we start to post here I thought it was important to situate the readers on the issue and regional context. It sounded a little boring in the beginning, but was truly necessary. Than I had write four posts (jaguardetectives.wildlifedirect.org/category/introduction/) and categorize it as “Introduction”. There I introduced the team (jaguardetectives.wildlifedirect.org/category/introduction/meet-the-team/), a summary with the main aims of the project (jaguardetectives.wildlifedirect.org/2008/03/19/jaguar-and-ocelots-as-landscape-detectives-summary/) and a resume of the project background (jaguardetectives.wildlifedirect.org/2008/03/24/jaguars-and-ocelots-as-landscape-detectives-background/). Laury’s PhD. dissertation “Jaguars as Landscape Detectives for the Conservation of Atlantic Forests in Brazil” is available to download for free at (www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/cullen_2006_phd.pdf). Please let me know if you could not find all information in these links, it will be important to us to improve it!
All the best from Brazil,
Cheers,
Fernando

Hey Beth,
Thank you very much for your interest! It is always good to receive all this encoragemmt. Well, it is a long history. Since childhood I had a fascination with cats. I spend many years on University and after that, at IPÊ, working with primates, but always with an eye on wild cats, studying, buying books and learning as much as I could. From this to be part of the team was, I think, a natural part of the process. I had met Laury and the rest of the team and we became good friends. On Columbia, actually we are not direct involved in cooperation by the Jaguar Detectives. I am working as a Teaching Assistant at Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates (SEE-U) (culter.colorado.edu:1030/~kittel/SEE-U_BR.html), that is a program of Columbia which take place at IPÊ’s campus. The actual partner of the project is the Brazilian NGO “Pró-Carnívoros” (www.procarnivoros.org.br/z_index.php), through our great friend and partner the researcher Dênis Sana (http://www.procarnivoros.org.br/z_nossaequipe.php).
All the best from Brazil,
Keep contact
Fernando

Hi Fernando,
I haven’t written in a while because the end of the schoolyear has been so busy I had very little time. I am the high school teacher from New Jersey who worked at Temple University in mouse research. (Wow what a long sentence) Anyway, this past year I taught general science, some chemistry, physics and so on. The good news is that next yaer I get to teach bio YAY!!!!!!!! I want to make your research and findings a part of my course. Basically I would like to visit your site a few times a week with my students and have them keep a journal about what is going on. This would give them exposure to some real research. My question is - how long does the team plan to remain in the jungle? When you guys leave the jungle will your site still be available? I’m hoping to inspire a few students by opening their eyes to the real world of science.
Let me tell you how much I admire the work your team is doing. People like you are so important. Hope to hear from you.

Dear Petra,
Yes, I know that is really time consuming to teach at school. I use to give lectures on high schools when I was at University. It is a hard work to educate young minds. Great news that you will start to teach bio! Congratulations! I just don’t have words to express how honored I (and I am sure that all the project team fells the same) fell on your idea! Thank you! Hope your students enjoy our research activities! So, in Pontal our field companions use to be short and we are able to go to the field and come back home. At Ivinhema we will spend 10-15 days, after what I hope to bring amazing reports. Of course our website will be here!!! We hope to still sharing experiences and aware people on conservation of these species for a long time here. Thank you again for this exciting possibility to extend our work to your students!
Sincerely,
Fernando