Where are the bats?

When Joe arrived back from his whistle-stop European trip he brought back an exciting present for Annie with him – telemetry equipment, 10 micro GPS units and 10 micro VHF transmitters. The master plan – to attach them to bats that she was trapping to gain information about their movements. As my love of field work was spawned in Namibia using VHF telemetry, I was more excited than a child on Christmas day by the brand new receiver and TINY transmitters!! After practicing a little to get used to the equipment everyone was given a run down on how to use the receiver and listen for that hideously illusive BEEP! Everyone took turns in using the equipment to track down a transmitter that I had hidden around the station. Unfortunately, the weather decided that it was not going to be our friend and assist us in this project. The rain and the cold started. And it didn’t stop for around 13 days. This left Annie with a race against time to trap bats weighing more than 90g. Guidelines state that you cannot attach tracking equipment to an animal that weighs more than 5% of its body weight. Even though the transmitters were TINY, Annie still had to make sure that she only put them on the largest bats she was catching. In the few days following the rain the bats started to come back to the nets, but none big enough. Then finally as panic started to set in Annie and Joe finally managed to catch a large female bat and attach a transmitter!! Then the hunt began. With Annie desperately needing sleep, Charlotte (a primate volunteer from the UK) and I took the telemetry equipment and set out on the first hunt. As VHF tracking operates using radio waves one technique to avoid interference is to get up high. To do this, I spent a lot time scrambling onto the roof of the car while all ears strained to hear the tiny bleep through the loud, grating interference. On the road we picked up Janine and Celine and then finally we were joined by Annie. Team Chica was complete and ready for action!!! We drove around the reserve searching for somewhere that we could find a signal from. As we drove out of the gate and down the road to San Jorge, we were rewarded with a spike on the receiver’s digital display! The next day we went out again to hunt for the receiver and hopefully, retrieve it if it had become detached from the bat. Charlotte, Annie, Jorge and I headed out armed with the telemetry equipment and machetes. The signal seemed to be pointing us into the forest so I suggested we head around to the field and see what sort of signal we could get with nothing blocking the transmission. Jorge announced we should just take the path that was there. Before we could ask where the path was he had vanished into the bushes with the machete and created one. Who needs roads when you have a forest guard with a machete!! I spent the afternoon clambering up and down trees (in some cases being lifted very ungracefully down by Conce and Kasper!!). Though we didn’t find the transmitters we did find the grapefruit grove and had a well-deserved break with some delicious fresh grapefruits!! As we sat on the back of the car contemplating what to do next the receiver suddenly exploded into loud, clear beeping!! At the same time, we heard bats chirruping overhead. The unit must have still been on the bat and it had just emerged. Over the following days the hunt continued and eventually we realised a horrible fact. The electricity pylons were interfering with the signal and we never managed to locate the units before the batteries in the transmitters died. VHF signals can be disrupted by dense vegetation and in the end we were defeated by the Atlantic Forest. Thankfully, Annie collected fantastic data for community analysis of the bat population across Laguna Blanca’s different habitats and everybody had a great time learning how to use the telemetry equipment – a valuable tool in any field biologist arsenal!! Everyone at PLT would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Annie for leaving the receiver and antennae at RNLB in order to train future interns and volunteers in VHF tracking!!! If you want to gain experience living and working in the field while having the time of your life check out http://www.paralatierra.org/getinvolved.html

Batty Research

If you didn’t know already, bats are awesome. A few quick facts on bats: Bats are the only flying mammal. The order they belong to, Chiroptera, is the second most diverse order of Mammals in the world. The order contains 20% of all Mammal species, totaling 1240 distinct species. Bats can be split into different feeding guilds based on what they like to eat: insectivores, frugivores, sanguinivores, nectivores, some even eat fish and frogs! Bats vary hugely in size, the smallest (Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat) being about the same size as a human thumb; the largest (Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox) is 800x the size, weighing 1.6 kilograms with a wingspan of 1.7 meters. Besides the fact that bats are extremely cool, and occasionally extremely cute, the main reason why PLT has decided to focus heavily on them is their importance as habitat engineers. Due to the huge level of diversity, bats contribute to the stability of an ecosystem in many ways. The fruit eating bats help trees disperse their seeds. The insectivorous bats help control insect populations that if left unchecked could wipe out certain species of undergrowth. The ones that drink nectar help pollinate certain flowers. And finally, conservationists rely on bats all around the world as indicator species. Because a healthy bat community relies on insects, fruits, nectar and occasionally frogs to survive, the only place you will find them are in healthy forests with an equal amount of biodiversity to the bat community. Here at Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca we trapped 14 different species and we are confident that there remain more to still be documented. There are 37 bats recorded in Paraguay and very little research has been done on them. UNTIL NOW! Annie Talbot has come to right that egregious wrong. Annie is Masters student working with University of Aberdeen to help PLT (and the rest of the scientific community) find out more about the wonderful creatures we have on site. She will be conducting general sampling across many different habitat types using mist nets. She will also use a bat recorder to document the ecolocation calls of the bats that fly around our heads but escape the nets. If you’ve ever heard that high pitch squeaking echo out from the dark night sky then you have heard a bat use sound to hunt for food. But the majority of the calls are too high frequency for the human ear to pick up. That’s the advantage of the bat recorder, it records on all frequencies and allows us to analyze and identify bats using their calls alone. The other aspect of her project is truly amazing. She has received funding for 10 GPS trackers that we will attach to the backs of a species of bat. With these trackers she will get a huge amount of data. She’ll find out about how they fly, how they navigate, how far they go in a single night, where they roost, what time they wake up and where they go to forage. This methodology has not been used in the past and so she is pioneering a brand new method for studying bat behavior. It is an honor that she chose PLT as her study location and we have high hopes for her project. Joe

On the move Para La Tierra

Since the beginning of the New Year, Para La Tierra has been moving and shaking. It all began thanks to the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, who have supported us in turning Para La Tierra into a model conservation organisation in Paraguay. In addition to setting up sustainable community projects and employing local Forest Guards among other things, their belief that we could do it has acquired us a new car – a Wingle 5 – and with it new opportunities. Large parts of Paraguay are still inaccessible, and even by bus travel is very difficult. The Chaco is just one of these places, where holes in the treacherous “road” are only the start of the problem. With our own transport we have been able to make several trips into the “green hell”, snaking our way to the far north of the country, discovering the Chaco’s spectacular views. As you may remember form Joe’s blog at the time, the Chaco is a wild and exciting place, boasting a vast biodiversity of strange and wonderful plants and animals. Within the year, we hope to have a second ecological station located at a beautiful Chaco reserve, and repeat some of the successes we’ve had at Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca in these past three years. More recently we found ourselves in Switzerland, at Rolex Headquarters. We spent four busy days meeting some very impressive people including James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic) who recently piloted the first one-man mission to the deepest part of the ocean! We also had the chance to hang out with the equally impressive older laureates including Mark Kendall who has invented a new method of administering vaccine which doesn’t require the use of needles, and Sergei Bereznuk who is working to save Amur tigers in Russia. We also made a new connection with Erika Cuellar, who has dedicated her life to protecting mammals in the Bolivian, Paraguayan and Argentinean Chaco. We then had the privilege of spending our final day at the IUCN headquarters in Geneva, where we met some of the people behind the biggest conservation network in the world. We left Switzerland with hundreds of new ideas and a renewed passion for our work. Back in Paraguay, we are now entirely focused on the growth of Para La Tierra, but to do that we need your help. We are now just over half-way through our Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign to fund a new research station in the Chaco, and thanks to all of you who’ve donated so generously, we’ve already reached our baseline target of £5000. With this amount of money we’ll be able to renovate an existing house, making it ready for volunteers to come, explore and learn about this endangered but little-known world. But we want to do more. With extra funding we’ll be able to build an education program including a public museum helping people to fully appreciate what we are in danger of losing forever. If there’s enough left over, we’ll also be able to develop resources enabling children to get involved in science, training the next generation of conservationists, or just giving them a better chance in life. Please give what you can and we will send you a reward along with our everlasting gratitude. If you can’t or if you’ve already donated don’t despair, you can still help! This week we are running a referrals competition. All you need to do is visit the campaign homepage and click on the facebook, twitter or google+ links below the video. We can track referrals and will award a t-shirt to the person with the most! The current record stands at 15, surely you can beat that! Thanks again to everyone who has got behind us. Let’s get Para La Tierra moving once more – get clicking! Karina

Introducing Jean-Paul

Hi everyone, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jean-Paul Brouard (aka Japes the Piz). I originate from Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, but for the last five years I have resided on the small, frozen, damp AND cold island known as the UK. I have returned to Laguna Blanca to fulfil the role of the legendary Helen Pheasey as Museum Curator and Volunteer Co-ordinator. Growing up in the small coastal town of Amanzimtoti, south of Durban was an awesome experience. My dad, a true wildlife fanatic and Bushman by heart, developed my passion for wildlife from a young age. If we were not looking for the threatened Dusky-bellied Water Snake near the local river, we would be exploring the bush or searching through the tidal pools at the beach. Time flew by and my interest in Herpetofauna (Reptiles and Amphibians) escalated. I remember my first solo snake catch in an abandoned field, strewn with waste. I lifted a tin and a snake shot out. I Paused. Heart racing, the chase ensued. I managed to get my hands on this fast, little beaut, a Short-snouted Grass Snake, a widespread species found in the eastern parts of the country. When I entered High School we moved from the coast and settled on a small-holding inland from Durban. I did extensive local surveys in my spare time, and developed an interest in bird watching ;) As a Fifteen year old, getting involved at general EIA (environmental impact assessment) meetings, with my wildlife inventory lists, was a stretch out of my league. At one of these meetings I was fortunate to meet my butterfly mentor, Steve Woodhall, author of several field guides to South African butterflies and President of the Lepidopterist Society of Africa. Steve took me under his wing from the word go. We spent most weekends chasing butterflies, and he got me into macro photography. I only had a video camera at the time, but that was good enough. It was glued to my hand 24/7. I moved to Johannesburg after school. My uncle opened a position for me as a Learner Technician in his UPS business. At this time I started a BSC in environmental management through UNISA. After two years I decided to make a change and immigrated to the UK. I managed to get a job near Henley-on-Thames as a gardener. I spent the next five years working hard to make a living and eventually worked my way up to manage the company. The neotropical region has always fascinated me. The mighty Amazon rainforest with its blue Morpho butterflies to the Andes and its range restricted species. I needed to come explore this rich land. In the first quarter of 2012 I got my opportunity in Paraguay as a volunteer at Para la Tierra. My introduction to this special place had started before I had even arrived at Laguna Blanca. Karina had come to fetch me from the small town of Santa Rosa and I decided to sit on the back of the pickup truck on our way to the reserve to soak up the scenery. It proved to be a good choice as I saw a snake crossing the road. I leaned over the side of the vehicle and shouted SNAKE. All at once I had lost my grip and fell off the back of the car. That was not going to stop me. I got up and sprinted towards the serpent. I brought the prize over to show the others with the biggest smile on my face. Heaven. It was a gorgeous Yellow-bellied Liophis. A very gentle, non-venomous snake that eats amphibians. We arrived at dusk and I was mind blown by the beauty of Laguna Blanca. Not even five minutes spent within the reserve and my lifelong dream to see a wild Morpho butterfly was realised. My time at PLT seemed to fly by as I worked on the inventory of butterflies within the reserve and helped Helen with her reptile projects. I made some amazing friends, and was inspired by the hard work and passion the organisation put in to protect the wildlife and local people within the area. A new year and a new chapter in my life as I have returned to be part of the PLT team. Everyone has been very warm and welcoming. Sadly at the end of the week we will be saying our goodbye’s to Helen, Victoria (Capuchin monkey volunteer), Sean (Fish inventory intern) and Kevin (Bird inventory volunteer). I wish them all the best. In the coming months I hope to share with you my experience and wildlife encounters within this unstudied part of South America. Until next time. Jean-Paul

Holy Fortin Toledo!

Hey everybody, Last week I had the amazing opportunity to visit a private reserve in the Paraguayan Gran Chaco called Fortin Toledo. The name “Gran Chaco” comes from Quechua for the land of great hunting. Its Guarani name translates to something resembling the “Green Hell.” And let me tell you that it certainly lives up to both names. On the bus trip alone up we saw countless birds, including raptors and herons; we also saw caiman and desert hares. The panoramic views from out the window showed huge expanses of the wet savannah plains expanding all the way to the horizon. We passed through the humid Chaco that consisted of palm trees and Quebracho trees surrounded by tall tropical grasses growing out of swamped plains. It looked like a place that even Bear Grylls couldn’t survive in. This habitat is a transitional area between the humid Pantanal and the Dry or Alto Chaco savannah to the north-west. A few hours after leaving Asuncion, we passed out of the Humid Chaco and entered the Alto Chaco. The Alto Chaco is hotter and dryer than the Humid Chaco, and the habitat reflects it. The trees are shorter and spinier, cactuses are more prevalent, and there are sand dunes and small hills from which you can see the desert spreading out around you. The Alto Chaco is also home to a number of large mammals such as peccary, puma and jaguar but due to the increase of agricultural pressures, their numbers are steadily falling. While the trip on the bus was a great introduction to the environment I was going to see at the reserve, it also showed the huge threat to the area: Cattle Ranching! The majority of the Alto Chaco is contained within the Boquerón Department of Paraguay, which is Paraguay’s largest geographic department. Up until recently, due to the lack of infrastructure and the unrelenting heat, it was also a sparsely inhabited department. However, thanks to the completion of the Trans-Chaco highway and an increase in technology it has flourished in the past few decades. It now produces over 65% of the country’s milk and meat due to the fertile soil and ease of clearing land for ranching in the flat savannah. Boquerón is also currently experiencing the country's greatest rate of population increase, about 12.4% annually. The fate of the beautiful Alto Chaco habitat is under grave threat! Once I arrived at the Reserva Privada Fortin Toledo, I was amazed at what I could see. Turning off the main road and onto the reserve, the forest sprung up around me. The near constant sight of herds of cattle disappeared behind us and a new type of fauna surrounded me. Before getting out the car, I’d seen a snake, a tinamou, two buff necked ibises and a Brazilian cotton-tail. The two days I spent there was an amazing experience, especially the evening frog hunt after a heavy rain. We saw 6 species of frog and 2 different snakes on a short walk about the reserve. Truly amazing. The reserve is also home to the Centro Chaqueno de Conservaccion y Investigacion (CCCI) and the site of the Proyecto Tagua. As I mentioned above, all the large mammals are feeling the effects of agricultural expansion but the Chaco Peccary (Catagonus wagneri) or Tagua was thought to have gone extinct over 200 years ago due to poaching and was rediscovered in 1972. The Tagua is one of the few large mammals to be discovered by science since 1900. Proyecto Tagua is a rehabilitation project focusing on the breeding of the Chaco peccary and releasing family groups into pristine environments all throughout the department. The project is over 20 years old and seeing over a one hundred critically endangered peccaries in one place was a great experience. Especially knowing that they were destined to be released back into the wild! For more information on the Chaco peccary and how you can help, please visit CCCIpy.org. Fortin Toledo had one more surprise in store for me. “Fortin” in Spanish means Fort and the site has a number of small bunkers and two graveyards built after a large battle in the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay. It was amazing to see the cultural heritage hidden within a beautiful nature reserve. I was also impressed by a giant Palo Boracho tree trunk that had been hollowed out by a sniper to use as cover. The tree trunk was at least a meter and a half wide and had plenty of space for a full grown man to hide within. The whole experience gave a real sense of the inhospitality of the habitat that was only enhanced by the brutal war that took place within it. While I only had enough time to spend two days on the reserve and at least five of those hours I was trapped inside by a torrential rain storm, Fortin Toledo still blew my mind. The mix of passive and active conservation combined with the cultural heritage of the area was enough to make your jaw drop. While I can’t claim to be an expert on the area in such a short time, however I can assure you of one thing: it is a place worth visiting! Even if you have to brave the 40° heat . Until next time, Joseph

Lights, Camera, Action!

It’s been all go at PLT in the last couple of weeks. The whole reserve received a big spring (or autumn as it is here) clean, the house was gutted, the Atlantic Forest trails were cleared and the area around the house was given what was probably its biggest ever clean!! Everything looked shiny and brand new. The reason: the arrival of a camera crew from Rolex to make a short film about Karina and the work of Para la Tierra. Sara (the director) and Mike (the cameraman) arrived on Sunday night and work began first thing Monday morning. We had spent the previous week collecting small mammals, reptiles and insects in pitfall and Sherman traps and all of these had their moment in the limelight as they were filmed being released and scurrying back into the forest. As the sun fell it was the turn of our flagship species – the white-winged nightjar – to smile for the camera. The next day my first monkey volunteer, Vicki, arrived in the midst of all the filming madness. At night Mark gave an interesting presentation about his time as a PLT volunteer, particularly about his work on beginning a butterfly inventory. After his presentation there was a flurry of activity as Helen and Karina went frogging, Joe, Kevin and Jorge fought with the bat mist net and Vicki and I worked the moth light. On Wednesday the staff and volunteers headed out on mass to be filmed checking the pitfall traps in the Transitional Forest. We found a selection of scorpions, centipedes, spiders and lizards. When we returned it was time to say goodbye to Mark as his 6 weeks came to a close and he headed back to England. Thursday morning found the film crew, Karina, Joe, myself, Sean, Vicki and the Forest Guards in the Atlantic Forest being filmed walking up and down Trail 1 for a couple of hours. The monkeys had been seen that morning in the North Forest but they decided to be divas and not show up for filming in the South!! On Thursday night we all got a special treat! We had a delicious asado and three local men came to play traditional Paraguayan songs for us. It was a fantastic experience and everyone thoroughly the entire night. At 6am Friday morning Mike decided to come on a monkey hunt with Vicki and me. Just for good measure Mike brought his camera. Our thoughts were “now that the camera is here, the monkeys won’t be!” but we couldn’t have been more wrong. As we crept through the forest I looked up…and there they were; all 8 monkeys crossing the path right above our heads. In true capuchin form they shot by so fast that Mike wasn’t able to get film. We decided to call it a day as Mike was leaving and then luck really was on our side. As we walked out towards the edge of the forest a rustle in the bushes beside me alerted me to the spy. Mike whipped out his camera and got a great bit of footage of two of the monkeys rushing through the trees!! Look out for the video on the Rolex Awards website early in June, but if you can't wait to see what we are up to, check out the current video at http://www.rolexawards.com/profiles/young_laureates/karina_atkinson !! Until next time! Becca

Where’s the Snow and Cold Weather?

On December 29, 2012, I was at the peak of mountain waiting to drop in on the slope with my snowboard. There was low visibility due to the blowing snow and the air temperature was approximately -20°C. Despite this, I inched forward over the edge and began my downhill ride. Fast forward six days and I found myself waiting at the bus terminal in Asuncion, Paraguay, sweating and having a hard time coping with the 35°C weather. Leaving the cold, Canadian winter and arriving in the humid, Paraguayan summer can be a difficult transition for a Canadian. However, I was still ambitious to see my new home at Laguna Blanca. The Para La Tierra staff and the local people working at the nearby resort greeted me with a warm welcome despite that I did not understand any Spanish and Guarani, which is the local dialect. For the next two months at Laguna Blanca, I unknowingly would have one of the best experiences in my life. By being a volunteer for Para La Tierra, I got to participate in many different projects occurring throughout the three different habitats: the cerrado, transitional forest, and Atlantic forest; which are all situated within the reserve boundaries. However, most of my time here was spent in the transitional forest setting up trail cameras deep within the understory to get photographs of the elusive little spotted cat and other rare mammalian species. Most of the camera images I retrieved were of shrubs moving in the wind, agoutis, armadillos, and cottontails. Despite this on-going disappointment and hoping for some rare animal, the trail cameras finally captured some breaking images. Three white-collared peccaries got their photographs taken. This was exciting because this particular species has not been seen in the reserve since 2005 and were believed to be extirpated from the area. Besides the camera trapping, I had many other highlights. The one morning, the primatologist and I were fortunate enough to see the local group of Capuchin monkeys within minutes of entering the South Atlantic forest. It was amazing to see the monkeys jumping from one tree to the next, and we also witnessed an infant holding onto its mother’s back. The museum curator and I got to catch small opossums in the transitional forest using Sherman traps, capture lizards using pitfall traps, and collect insects that were attracted to a spotlight. I also joined three marine biology students on the lake, and assisted with the capture of some fish using gillnets. In particular, I got to remove snapping piranhas tangled in a gill net. However, my favourite highlight at Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca was holding a white-winged nightjar in my hands. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a critically-endangered species sitting there in front of you. Although, I am sure that the nightjar was not feeling the same enjoyment as I was. When I was off the reserve, I got to celebrate a Paraguayan girl’s 15th birthday party. It was fun drinking with the staff, interns, and other volunteers at the party. Particularly, it was funny to witness the local men attempting to buy a dance with the female staff members by persuading the guys at Para La Tierra with beer. Secondly, everyone from Para La Tierra, including myself, had the opportunity to see Carnival in Encarnacion, Paraguay. It was a great time seeing the women in the parade, and having numerous spray foam fights in the VIP booth. Carnival is a must-see event if you visit Paraguay during January and February. If you plan to volunteer or become an intern for Para La Tierra, I would like to recommend a few things. First, participate in every Para La Tierra project and join the local people in some of the Paraguayan customs. Try something new and out of your element. You are guaranteed to acquire a wide range of valuable field skills and to maximize your Paraguayan experience if you do. Secondly, keep a journal. Your friends and family would like to hear about your Paraguayan adventure. Lastly, have some fun and make some new friends. I met people from different parts of the world, and I had a fun time hanging out with each individual. Even though this blog was a brief summary of my Paraguayan experience, I am sure whoever joins Para La Tierra will also have a great time! Adam Moltzahn – Canada 2013 Para La Tierra Volunteer