The road went on for nine long hours before we reached Atalaya, a town on the shores where the Tambo and Urubamba Rivers meet. That morning, we left the city of Cusco, once the capital of of the Inca Empire, in our journey towards the field sites of Dr. Adi Barocas in the Madre de Dios region in south-east Peru. Dr. Barocas, working on behalf of San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and the University of Oxford, has been working along these rivers for more than a year, studying Giant Otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world located in and in the vicinity of Manú National Park.
Dr. Barocas and his team are monitoring giant otter populations in oxbow lakes (lakes that were created by a change in the river flow). They examine differences in otters' survival and reproductive success between lakes located in the protected Manú National Park and lakes in adjacent areas subject to mining and habitat degradation. I joined Dr. Barocas for 10 days in May 2018 to assist with the intense fieldwork, but mainly to experience one of the most magical places in the world.
It was never quiet in the field, except, perhaps, during the hottest hours of the day when all living things were busy cooling off and resting. The intensity of Jungle life meant that at any given moment, you could hear a call being carried away by a gregarious Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata), a shy howler monkey or even a black caiman (Melanosuchus niger). Nighttime was just as loud, but the long days usually took their toll and sleep never came too late. However, once the day had started, there was little time for rest. Waking up at dawn meant that we were already conducting bird surveys in the early hours of the morning, paddling a rubber kayak around the lake. It wasn't long before Dr. Barocas and Manuel, the boat driver and a talented birder, had taught me how to spot and recognize the avian fauna that was all around us. On a rare stroke of luck, we even spotted a Jaguar disappearing into the bush on a sandy beach.
When out in the lake, we also had our eyes out for spotting the otters. Often mindful of our presence, they practiced what is known as 'periscoping', a behaviora meant to deter potential threats by lifting their bodies upwards out of the water, facing us, often at close range. Dr. Barocas had succeeded in locating otter groups in lakes where they haven't been previously seen, and is now studying their behavior by observing them for long hours. We watched them play, groom and steal each other's fish, in a wonderful display of social interactions and a sense for drama. These top predators, highly adapted to their environment, are now facing threats from human activity including habitat destruction and pollution of the aquatic ecosystem.
This diverse ecosystem is as beautiful as it is interesting in the eyes of a zoologist. It provides ample opportunities for studying questions regarding speciation, anthropogenic impact, behavioral ecology and more. It also provides invaluable ecosystem services for the entire globe, including where you are sitting right now. Therefore, conserving these ecosystems and species should be a major concern not only for the local community of the Peruvian Amazon, but for the whole world.
(Photo by Adi Barocas)