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Three years of continuous monitoring of the

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Academic Journal of Suriname 2016, 7, 643-660 Technology
Full-length paper

Three years of continuous monitoring of the large terrestrial mammals of

Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname
Paul E. Ouboter*, Vanessa S. Kadosoe*
National Zoological Collection of Suriname/Environmental Research Center, Anton de Kom University
of Suriname*

Abstract
Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname has a rich biodiversity. The area is also threatened by
mining, illegal hunting and possibly also tourism. To assess the impact of threats on the terrestrial
mammal community, a long-term continuous monitoring survey was started in 2012. To assess
mammal presence, abundance and activity, 27 camera traps were placed at 16 locations. In the
three-year period the camera stations were triggered 55,949 times by an identifiable animal (27%),
human (41%) or vehicle (32%). Twenty-nine species of large terrestrial mammals were recorded, of
which six were before this study only known to occur in the area through interviews with local
residents. The crab-eating raccoon, was recorded from Brownsberg and the interior of Suriname for
the first time. Twenty-eight percent of the species was recorded only after the first year and 10%
only after the second year of camera trapping. Most species were relatively rare. The red-rumped
agouti, puma, jaguar and red brocket deer caused most triggers. The relative abundance index
(RAI) of agoutis and pumas was higher than reported anywhere else in the Americas. A seasonal
pattern of activity could only be established for the agouti: highest activity in the period with most
fruits on the ground, much less activity in the flowering period of most trees. None of the species
seemed to decline over the three-year period. Twelve species can be considered of international
conservation interest; eight of these were shown to reproduce in the park. Differences in the
number of triggers per species between areas could partly be explained by differences in tourism
pressure..

Keywords: large terrestrial mammals, monitoring, camera trapping, Brownsberg, Suriname

Introduction
Our knowledge of the life history of most
Neotropical rainforest mammals is still limited.
However, since the 1990s the improvements in
the method of camera trapping and its increased
application in wildlife studies, has enhanced this
knowledge enormously.
In Suriname one of the best studied sites is
Brownsberg Nature Park (BNP). Its attraction is
its rich biodiversity, accessibility and facilities.
Its diverse flora and fauna are related to the
geomorphology of the area and the 500 m
altitudinal gradient of the Brownsberg Mountain
(P-M. Forget, pers. comm.). The mammals of
the Brownsberg area have been studied on
several occasions (Genoways & Williams, 1979;
Williams & Genoways, 1980; Genoways et al.,
1981; Genoways & McLaren, 2003). Lim et al.
(2005) presented an extensive overview of both
small and large mammals of the Brownsberg Mt.
However, the occurrence of several species is
only known from interviews with local people,
without any proof by specimens or photographs.
Brownsberg Nature Park faces many threats.
The forests and creeks of the northwestern,
northern and southeastern lowlands at the foot of
the mountain have been destroyed by small-
scale gold mining. Occasionally some gold
miners try their luck on the plateau as well. In
addition, illegal hunting, plant collecting and
eco-tourism may pose threats to the biodiversity
as well. In Suriname BNP is one of the prime
destinations for many eco-tourists. According to
Fitzgerald et al. (2002) 17,000 tourists annually
visited the park. Most of these visited the park
for a one-day trip to hike on one of the many
trails leading to waterfalls and creeks, but some
stayed overnight in houses that can be rented.

Correspondence to: Paul Ouboter, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Leysweg 86, Paramaribo, Suriname,
Tel. 597-494756, E-mail: p.ouboter@uvs.edu
Available on-line December 7th, 2016

Acad J Sur 2015 (7) 643-660

644
In 2012 we started a long-term camera trapping
project at Brownsberg with the main aim to
monitor the terrestrial mammal populations and
get insight into the impacts that different threats
have on these populations. By 2015 several
species could be verified or added to the area,
and insight in the status of species in the area is
gained. This is the subject of the present paper.
A detailed analysis of the impact of eco-tourism,
interspecific interactions or population dynamics
will be treated separately in the future.
Materials and Methods
Study area
The Brownsberg Nature Park (11,800 ha) is
located at the northwest corner of the
Brokopondo Reservoir, just 100 km south of the
capital Paramaribo between 04° 45’ 46” and 05°
59’ 44” N, and 055° 07’ 58” and 055° 15' 23” W
(De Dijn et al., 2006). It can be reached by
tarmac road. The Brownsberg Mt occupies most
of its area. It is an approx. 500 m high mountain
with an almost flat ferro-bauxite cap on top. The
plateau is approximately 34 km long and 13.5
km wide at its widest point. At Brownsberg four
seasons can be distinguished: the short dry
season from February till April, the long rainy
season from May till halfway August, the long
dry season from half August till November and
the short rainy season from December till
January. During the last decennium the timing of
these seasons seems to be less predictable (pers.
obs.). The mountain receives a lot of rain, and in
addition in the night and early morning the
upper slopes of the mountain and the plateau are
often wetted by mist from the clouds, especially
at the eastern rim. The mountain is almost
completely covered by mesophytic and xero-
mesophytic rainforest (De Dijn et al., 2006). The
nature park is in long-term lease by the
Foundation for Nature Conservation in Suriname
(STINASU), that exploits it as an eco-tourist
facility. The main access road to reach the park
facilities on top of the plateau is on the northern
side of the mountain (Agwago Kununu Pasi)
(Figure 1). This road continues to the park
headquarters while a sidetrack (Mazaroni Weg;
abbr. MW) continues 4 km to the south on the
plateau. Formerly this road continued many
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
kilometers further south, but this part of the road
(Pedreku Pasi; abbr. PP) was overgrown during
a period of social unrest in the interior in the
1990s. At the start of the 21th century part of
this road was opened again for research, but not
for motorized traffic; this was also the case for a
second road going down the mountain to Witi
Creek (Jeeptrail). These roads were still
accessible by foot when we started this project,
and we included 3.2 km of these in our study
area. After two years we had to clear these road
sections from re-growing vegetation to keep
these accessible. Most of the main roads and the
hiking trails going down the mountain are
included in the study areas as well (Fig. 1).
Field methods
Our trapping cameras were located at the road
entering and crossing the plateau, including the
closed roads in the south, and in the first
kilometer of trails going down from the plateau
(Fig. 1). These sites were selected based on the
high probability of the cameras being triggered
by large cats. Data from December/January 2013
till November/December 2015 were used for
analysis. A total of 16 locations were fitted with
cameras (Figure 1). The cameras were spaced
0.8 to 1.4 km apart. Usually two cameras were
placed almost opposite to each other. This is
important to maximize the chance to capture
every animal that is passing, to have a spare
camera in case one breaks down, and to
photograph identifiable animals on both flanks.
On some of the narrower hiking trails only one
camera was installed. The survey was started
with the use of Reconyx® HC600 cameras, but
Reconyx® PC900 cameras gradually replaced
these. Both types of cameras have an infrared
flash that is not visible (to humans and most
animals). The cameras were powered with
rechargeable Energizer® NiMH batteries.
Memory cards used were SanDisk® 4 Gb
Extreme SD cards. Cameras were covered with a
steel housing, especially to limit the impact of
direct raindrops on the camera (these cameras
are not fully waterproof under tropical
conditions). In the cameras two small cylinders
of desiccant were placed to lower inside
humidity.
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
645
Fig. 1: Map of study area. Triangle – camera station. Continuous thick black line – open and closed
roads. Closed roads are the ones going to Jeeptrail and PP locations. Thick spotted line – trails.
They were fitted to trees with a Python lock at a
height of 30 to 80 cm, dependent on the position
of the tree relative to the road or trail.
Settings were arranged at rapid-fire taking 5
images per triggering, with a delay of 3 minutes.
The delay was important to prevent battery
drainage and the filling of memory carts by
animals like gray-winged trumpeters that may
linger in front of a camera for extended periods.
In addition to the 3-minute delay, specimens that
remained in front of the camera or kept
appearing, were only counted after 30 minutes.
This happened often with agoutis, armadillos,
peccaries and pumas. Species that normally live
in groups, like peccaries and coatis, were
counted as one triggering despite several
specimens being visible in the photographs. The
photographs of opposite cameras were pooled,
so numbers of triggers/species were counted per
location, not per camera. The wildlife cameras
used in this research are triggered by heat and
movement, humans and cars are therefore
photographed as well. These were counted to
assess disturbance. Cameras were serviced every
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
month between the second and third week,
checking the condition of the camera and
changing the batteries, memory card and
desiccant.
It should be emphasized that camera triggers are
an indication of activity and abundance.
However, the actual number of individuals
cannot be determined when specimens triggering
a camera are not individually recognizable.
Notwithstanding this, a low number of triggers
is likely to indicate a rare species or a species
with another (micro)habitat preference, while a
high number of triggers is likely to indicate a
relatively abundant species.
Data analysis
Data analysis was focused on large mammals,
which are defined as all mammal species in
which adults weigh more than 1 kg. The data
were analyzed with Excel and SPSS. Diversity
indexes were calculated with Species Diversity
and Richness from Pisces Conservation Ltd®.
Simpsons Diversity Index (Simpson, 1949) was
used, calculated as 1-D to make diversity
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
646
increase from 0 to 1. According to Magurran
(2004) this diversity index is “one of the most
meaningful and robust diversity measures
available”, while the Shannon-Wiener Index is
often difficult to interpret, however most
publications report the Shannon-Wiener Index.
Therefore, the Shannon-Wiener Index was
calculated as well. To detect differences between
various areas based on different disturbance
factors, Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
was carried out with Community Analysis
Package 4 from Pisces Conservation Ltd®. For
PCA the data was transformed with Ln(x+1) to
limit the impact of very abundant species. Sites
were grouped based on various disturbance
factors (number of tourists, number of vehicles,
type of roads). The significance of the various
divisions in groups was checked by Analysis of
Similarity (ANOSIM) (Clarke, 1988, 1993). In
addition, for each species the Relative
Abundance Index (RAI) for the total area was
calculated as the number of camera trap triggers
per 100 trap days. Species of special
conservation interest are defined here as listed in
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
(IUCN, 2015) as Near Threatened, Vulnerable,
Endangered or Critically Endangered, or listed
in CITES Appendix I or II (CITES, 2015).
Results
During 17,520 trap days the cameras were
triggered 55,949 times by an identifiable animal
species (27% of triggers), human (41%) or
vehicle (32%). Thirtyfive species of mammals
were identified in the three-year period. In
addition, several birds, reptiles and unidentified
small rodents and bats were photographed. Of
the 35 mammals the brown four-eyed opossum
(Metachirus nudicaudatus) and the gray four-
eyed opossum (Philander opossum) are usually
less than 1 kg in weight and can therefore not be
considered as large mammals.
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
Also their identification to species was not
always possible, and they are therefore left out
from the analysis. Also left out are two species
of squirrels (under 1 kg) and two species of
monkeys, the brown capuchin (Cebus apella)
and the wedge-capped capuchin (Cebus
olivaceus) that triggered the cameras only once,
and are here considered to be completely
arboreal. This means that 29 species are listed
here (Tab. 1).
Although the first six months already produced a
good accumulation curve, additionally ten
species (34%) were recorded only after the first
6 months, eight species (28%) only after one
year and three species (10%) only after two
years.
Humans and cars triggered the cameras more
often than any mammal in the area: humans
triggered the cameras on 22,497 occasions, cars
on 17,515 occasions (Tab 1).
From the calculated Relative Abundance Index
(RAI) shown in Table 1 it is clear that most
species are rare. In the three-year period the
southern naked-tail armadillo (Cabassous
unicinctus), grison (Galictis vittata), oncilla
(Leopardus tigrinus) and Brazilian porcupine
(Coendou prehensilis) triggered a camera only
once, the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris)
only twice. Other rare species are the southern
tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), giant
anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), crab-eating
raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) and bush dog
(Speothos venaticus). The mammal that
triggered the cameras the most was the red-
rumped agouti, with 6,024 triggers. Other
species that were often photographed are the
puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca),
ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and red brocket
deer (Mazama americana).
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
Academic Journal of Suriname 2016, 7, 643-660 Technology
Full-length paper

Table 1. Camera triggerings by large terrestrial mammals, tourists and vehicles at Brownsberg Nature Park in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Also shown
are the total number of triggers in 3-years’ time and the RIA (relative abundance index).

Species Common name 2013 2014 2015 Total 3 years RAI

Dasyprocta leporina Red-rumped agouti 1529 2180 2315 6024 34.38
Puma concolor Puma 419 377 405 1201 6.85
Panthera onca Jaguar 287 331 281 899 5.13
Leopardus pardalis Ocelot 216 279 335 830 4.74
Mazama americana Red brocket deer 127 140 90 357 2.04
Cuniculus paca Paca 81 135 119 335 1.91
Myoprocta acouchi Red acouchy 83 60 125 268 1.53
Mazama gouazoubira Grey brocket deer 93 74 92 259 1.48
Didelphis marsupialis Common opossum 45 87 113 245 1.39
Dasypus kappleri Great long-nosed armadillo 13 81 118 212 1.21
Tapirus terrestris Brazilian tapir 31 101 25 157 0.90
Dasypus novemcinctus Nine-banded long-nosed armadillo 59 21 51 131 0.75
Leopardus wiedii Margay 18 23 30 71 0.40
Priodontes maximus Giant armadillo 10 21 38 69 0.39
Eira barbara Tayra 14 6 18 38 0.22
Puma yagouaroundi Jaguarundi 5 8 23 36 0.21
Pecari tajacu Collared peccary 10 20 3 33 0.19
Nasua nasua South American coati 11 16 4 31 0.18
Tayassu pecari White-lipped peccary 16 4 20 0.11
Sciurus aestuans Guianan squirrel 4 13 1 18 0.10
Tamandua tetradactyla Southern tamandua 4 3 7 0.04
Myrmecophaga tridactyla Giant anteater 1 3 3 7 0.04
Speothos venaticus Bush dog 5 1 6 0.03
Procyon cancrivorus Raccoon 4 4 0.02
Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris Capybara 2 2 0.01
Galictis vittata Grison 1 1 0.006
Leopardus tigrinus Oncilla 1 1 0.006
Coendou prehensilis Brazilian porcupine 1 1 0.006
Cabassous unicinctus Southern naked-tailed armadillo 1 1 0.006
Tourists 7533 7669 7295 22497 128.41
Vehicles 4182 7456 5877 17515 99.97

Acad J Sur 2015 (7) 643-660

648
Figure 2. Activity of red-rumped agouti and paca.
development; RF – ripe fruits; F – flowering
Temporal patterns
Figure 2 shows the wide variation in the number
of monthly triggers, and therefore activity over
time, of the red-rumped agouti with the lowest
numbers during the long dry season. Red-
rumped agoutis have a limited home range and
therefore triggers per camera is correlated to
activity for this species. Other common species
have some variation in triggers as well (Figure
3). The puma had an exceptionally high number
of triggers in January-February 2013. Very
surprising is the general conformity in triggers
between jaguars and pumas.
Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3 do not indicate that
any of the species is declining. Jaguar triggers
dropped almost to zero in November-December
2015, but numbers increased again the next
months (unpubl. data). Brazilian tapir (Tapirus
terrestris) triggers were relatively high in 2014
and low in 2015 (Tab. 1). The same trend
applies to both species of peccaries. Several
species show an increase in their number of
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
Tree phenology is indicated as: FD – fruit
triggers over the three years: red-rumped agouti,
ocelot, common opossum (Didelphis
marsupialis), great long-nosed armadillo
(Dasypus kappleri), margay (Leopardus wiedii),
giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus)and
jaguarundi(Pumayagouaroundi.
Reproduction
Juveniles were seen for 12 species and pairs of
adult individuals for six solitary species (Tab. 2).
Very remarkable is the high number of puma
pairs (15). Jaguar juveniles (often with their
mother) had the highest number of triggers of all
juveniles (13).
Spatial pattern
There is a slight difference between sites in the
number of species found. Only 15 species were
recorded for the trail to Mazaronival and the
road junction to this fall, followed by 16 species
at the Leoval trail (Figure 4). Leoval is the trail
visited by most tourists (average 263
triggers/month).
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
 649 Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.

Table 2. Evidence of reproduction as indicated by pairs of species that are solitary outside the reproductive period and by juveniles (often with
mothers) triggering the cameras (grey shading). * usually not solitary but in pairs or groups.

** not the whole group is seen, so more juveniles may have been present. Crosshatched – open hunting season 2015 as determined by Nature
Conservation Division Suriname.

Species Pairs of solitary species Juveniles

Pairs J F M A M J J A S O N D Records Number J F M A M J J A S O N D
Didelphis
marsupialis 4 4 to 5
Tamandua
tetradactyla 1 1
Priodontes
maximus 1 1 1
Leopardus
pardalis 1 5 1
Puma
yagouaroundi 4 1 to 3
Puma concolor 15 8 1
Panthera onca 3 13 1 to 3
Tapirus
terrestris 1 4 1
Tayassu pecari 2 1 to 3*
Mazama
americana 5 1
Mazama
gouazoubira 1 1
Cuniculus paca 1
Dasyprocta
leporina 5 1 to 4

Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660

650 Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.

The highest number of species was recorded for
the second most visited site, Mazaroni Top, with
22 species. Twenty-one (21) species were found
at the site furthest from any human activity
PP2.8, but also in the middle of the Mazaroni
Road MW2. Diversity (Simpsons and Shannon
Wiener Index) is often in contradiction with
species number. Highest diversity is calculated
for the least disturbed sites PP1.4, Jeeptrail and
PP2.8 (Figure 4) (1-D resp. 0.87, 0.84 and 0.83).
This is as expected, but these sites are followed
by the most visited Leoval (1-D=0.82), with
only 16 species. Another contradiction is seen at
Mazaroni Top: despite many tourists visiting the
trail the number of species is highest, but
diversity is the lowest (1-D=0.39).

Figure 3. Activity of ocelot, puma, jaguar and red brocket deer. Seasons are indicated as: SDS – short
dry season; LRS – Long rainy season; LDS – Long dry season; SRS – short rainy season

Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660

651 Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.

Figure 4. Number of species, Simpsons Diversity Index (x10; indicated as 10 (1-D)) and Shannon-Wiener
Index (x5; indicated as 5 (H’)) of all camera localities. Localities are arranged in decreasing order of the
Simpsons Index

Analysis of the mammal community with
Principal Component Analysis resulted in Figure
5. Localities that are closed roads, and therefore
with hardly any human disturbance, are plotted
to the left of the graph, open roads with traffic
and tourists mostly to the right. Species that
seems to avoid human disturbance are the
Brazilian tapir, both species of peccaries,
jaguarundi, red acouchy and gray brocket deer.
Species that seem to prefer open roads (with
more human disturbance) are the red-rumped
agouti, paca, ocelot, margay and red brocket
deer. Several species are plotted in between,
more or less pointing to the trail and slope
locality of Witi Creek. These are all species of
armadillos, South American coati, bush dog and
puma. Species not mentioned above have less
impact on differences in the number of triggers
/species between sites (they may occur
anywhere), including the jaguar and common
opossum.
Differences in triggers/species are most
significant when the sites are divided based on
tourist numbers (ANOSIM; R=0.293, P=0.001),
or road/trail characteristics (trail, accessible
road, closed road; (ANOSIM; R=0.348,
P=0.002).

Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660

652
Figure 5. PCA plot of terrestrial mammals at all camera localities
Species confirmed for the Brownsberg Nature
Park or species new to the area
Several mammal species listed for Brownsberg
by Lim et al. (2005) were included based on
interviews with local inhabitants only. Our
survey confirmed the presence of the following
species: Southern naked-tail armadillo
(Cabassous unicinctus (Linnaeus, 1758)), 1
trigger. Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga
tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758), 7 triggers.
Bush dog (Speothos venaticus (Lund, 1842)), 6
triggers, usually two individuals. Oncilla
(Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775)), 1 trigger.
Grison (Galictis vittata (Schreber, 1776)), 1
trigger, two individuals.
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis
(Linnaeus, 1758)), 1 trigger.
Apart from these six species confirmed for the
Brownsberg Mt., a mammal was photographed
at Brownsberg that is not only new for the
mountain but also for the interior of Suriname in
general, the Crab-eating raccoon (Procyon
cancrivorus (Cuvier, 1798) (Fig. 6). The crab-
eating raccoon is common in the coastal area.
The most southern locality mentioned by
Husson (1978) is Domburg, only 25 km from
the coast (Brownsberg is approx. 100 km from
the coast). No specimens were known from the
interior of Suriname. In 2015 this species was
photographed four times by the camera traps.
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
653
Figure 6. Crab-eating Raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) at Mazaroni Road, Brownsberg, 19 June 2015
Species of special conservation interest
Species of special conservation interest, as well
as the number of triggers, RAI and trend over
the three years are shown in Table 3. In addition,
evidence of reproduction is indicated. Of the 12
species of international conservation concern
three are quite rare at Brownsberg, the oncilla,
bush dog and giant anteater; and three are
common, the puma, jaguar and ocelot (Fig. 7).
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
Of the conservation sensitive species (with
sufficient numbers) none is showing an overall
decline over the three years, four species even
seem to be increasing in numbers over the
period and five fluctuating in numbers.
However, the jaguar shows a sudden decrease in
number of triggers during the last three months
of the study. Reproduction in the Brownsberg
area is proven for eight species (67%).
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
654 Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.

Table 3. Conservation sensitive mammal species (see text) of Brownsberg Nature Park, showing IUCN Red List and CITES status, number of
triggers, Relative Abundance Index (RAI), trend, and data on reproduction. numbers increasing over three-year period; numbers almost
stable; numbers fluctuating over three-year period.

Species Common name IUCN Red List CITES Triggers RAI Trend Reproduction
App.
Myrmecophaga
tridactyla Giant Anteater Vulnerable II 7 0.04 no data
Priodontes maximus Giant Armadillo Vulnerable I 69 0.39 pair and juvenile
Near
Speothos venaticus Bush Dog Threatened I 6 0.03 no data
pair and
Leopardus pardalis Ocelot Least concern I 830 4.74 juveniles
Near
Leopardus wiedii Margay Threatened I 71 0.40 no data
Leopardus tigrinus Oncilla Vulnerable I 1 0.006 no data
Puma yagouaroundi Jaguarundi Least concern II 36 0.21 juveniles
pairs and
Puma concolor Puma Least concern II 1201 6.85 juveniles
Near pair and
Panthera onca Jaguar Threatened I 899 5.13 juveniles
pairs and
Tapirus terrestris Brazilian Tapir Vulnerable II 157 0.90 juveniles
Pecari tajacu Collared Peccary Least concern II 33 0.19 juveniles
Tayassu pecari White-lipped Peccary Vulnerable II 20 0.11 juveniles

Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660

655
Figure 7. Relative abundance index (RAI) of conservation sensitive mammal species
Discussion
This project shows the importance of long-term
continuous camera trapping of a terrestrial
mammal fauna: 34% of the species was recorded
after the first 6 months, 28% after the first year
and 10% only after the second year. Camera
trapping surveys often have a duration of four to
six months, and may even show a good
accumulation curve for this short period. Despite
this, many rare species occurring in the area may
still be missing. Even with surveys of several
months each year, the chance of missing rare
species is considerable. Camera trapping is very
efficient for assessing common species, even
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
elusive common species like puma and ocelot,
but it takes a long time to record very rare
species.
The former camera trapping survey at
Brownsberg Nature Park documented only 17
species (Lim et al., 2005), this one 35 species,
with 29 species which can be considered large
terrestrial or terrestrial/arboreal mammals. With
this number of large terrestrial mammals, it is
one of the richest sites in the world. Ahumada et
al. (2011) compared 7 tropical rainforest sites
around the globe with camera trapping as
method. In that comparison the Central
Suriname Nature Reserve location was the
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
656
richest with 28 species recorded by camera
trapping.
The most abundant species, the red-rumped
agouti fluctuated in number of triggers
considerably over the years, with numbers in the
long dry season three to four times lower than in
the short dry and long rainy seasons. This is
probably correlated to the phenology of most
trees in the forest and consequently the amount
of fruit available on the ground. The period of
high activity coincided with the period in which
most trees develop or have ripe fruits (see De
Dijn et al., 2006). The period of low activity
coincides with the flowering period. For the only
other frugivore, the paca, this seasonal trend is
less obvious. Only in 2014 pacas seemed to be
less active in the long dry season. Possibly this
species prefers other fruits than the agouti (also
see Dubost & Henry, 2006). Seasonality in
activity in other mammal species is even less
clear. The three cat species ocelot, jaguar and
puma fluctuate considerably in number of
triggers, but no pattern related to seasonality
could be detected. In puma and jaguar, the
highest numbers of triggers are often related to a
period in which males and females are seen
together, with the pair walking back and forth in
front of several cameras.
Very high RAI’s were obtained for the red-
rumped agouti, puma and jaguar. The RAI for
the agouti was almost ten times the number in
other studies (Maffei et al., 2002; Srbek-Araujo
& Chiarello, 2005; de Souza Martis et al., 2007;
Gonzalez-Maya, 2007; Ouboter et al., 2011;
Isasi-Catalá, 2012; Jax et al., 2015). Also for
pumas no study could be found with RAI’s
exceeding the 6.85 found for Brownsberg (e.g.
Maffei et al., 2002; Srbek-Araujo & Chiarello,
2005; Kelly et al., 2008; Soria-Diaz et al., 2010;
Blake et al., 2012). Also the jaguar RAI of 5.13
is very high compared to other studies (see
overview in Maffei et al., 2011). Of a total of 39
studies, only four studies produced similar or
higher RAI’s for the jaguar: for Mountain Pine
Ridge, Belize (M. Kelly, unpublished data);
Fazenda Sete, Brazil (Soisalo & Cavalcanti,
2006); Serra da Capivara, Brazil (Silveira et al.,
2009); Tikal, Guatemala (Garcia et al., 2006).
The very high RAI’s found at Brownsberg
should be considered with caution. On many
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
occasions the RAI is increased by a single or a
few individuals triggering one or several
cameras multiple times. This is especially the
case with red-rumped agoutis, armadillos and
pumas. On the other hand, all studies reporting
RAI’s will be biased by this phenomenon, unless
individuals are identified, which is only possible
for a few species. Camera triggers should be
considered principally as an indicator of activity,
secondly of abundance! Despite these
considerations, the number of puma and jaguar
triggers are unusually high. The identification of
individuals in the near future will demonstrate if
also the density of these species at Brownsberg
is high.
In contrast to these high RAI’s, the RAI’s for the
collared peccary and white-lipped peccary are
unusually low compared to other studies
(Gomez et al., 2005; Srbek-Araujo & Chiarello,
2005; Tobler et al., 2008; Blake et al., 2012).
This could be caused by high predator
abundance, but other explanations are possible
too. All peccaries were seen at sites with low
tourist numbers, indicating the possibility of
avoidance of humans. Peccaries were seen most
at sites near the edge of the plateau; possibly the
peccaries prefer the slopes of the mountain that
have a thicker soil layer than the hard and rocky
plateau substrate.
Jaguars and pumas are top predators of almost
equal size, with an overlap in prey items
(Harmsen et al., 2010). Because of its stouter
body the jaguar can handle slightly larger prey
like tapir and more dangerous prey like white-
lipped peccaries (Foster et al., 2010), and
jaguars are known to kill pumas in intraguild
encounters (de Oliveira & Pereira, 2014).
Research in other Neotropical areas has shown
that pumas and jaguars avoided using the same
locality at the same time (Harmsen et al. 2009).
At Brownsberg there is no indication of
avoidance of jaguars by pumas. In general, the
number of triggers of both species go up and
down at the same time and also per site there is
no negative correlation between these species
(unpubl.data).
The number of jaguar triggers dropped since
September 2015. Triggers below 10/month
never happened before. It is of course possible
that some of the jaguars migrated to parts of
Acad J Sur 2016 (7), 643-660
657
their territory outside our study area. We
considered the relative dryness of the 2015 long
dry season as a possible cause for jaguars to
migrate down the slopes of the mountain, where
creeks still have sufficient water. However a
similar dryness occurred in 2014 (see Ouboter et
al., 2016), without a drop in jaguar triggerings.
In Suriname, 15 species of mammals may be
hunted during part of the year or the whole year,
dependent on the species. The hunting season is
supposed to be closed in the season of
reproduction.
In the present study, no juveniles were seen in
the open hunting season for white-lipped
peccaries, but for the tapir and both species of
deer juveniles were seen in the open season. A
revision of the open- and closed hunting seasons
is advisable.
The contradiction between species numbers and
diversity is mainly caused by the enormous
abundance of certain species, lowering the
evenness and with that the Simpsons and
Shannon-Wiener Diversity Indices. This is most
obvious at Mazaroni Top and MW2 with the
highest species numbers but the lowest diversity.
Here it is the red-rumped agouti that triggered
the cameras more than a thousand times!
Two factors that seemed to contribute
significantly to differences in species triggers
between areas are the number of tourists and the
type of road/trail the cameras were positioned
on. However, these two factors are not
independent, as hardly any tourist reaches the
closed roads, and several trails were the most
frequented areas of the park. We therefore
suggest that the number of tourists is the main
factor influencing and changing species relative
abundances in highly frequented areas.
A species that seems to have a preference for
disturbance is the red-rumped agouti, while large
predators seem to avoid areas with many
tourists. The preference for disturbed areas of
red-rumped agoutis may very well be caused by
a release of predation pressure on/near tourist
frequented roads and trails. Consequently, the
choice of locations of camera traps, near roads
and trails, could explain the high RAI found for
red-rumped agoutis.
Ouboter P. & Kadosoe V.
Brownsberg is an important area for
conservation. That was already indicated by a
priority setting workshop that resulted in
designating the area as a High Priority
Conservation Area (Conservation International,
2011). Jairam (2015) studied the use of the
Brownsberg Nature Park by scientists and the
occurrence of endemic and threatened species
and came to the same conclusion. During this
and other surveys Brownsberg proofed to have a
very rich biodiversity; for large terrestrial
mammals 29 species. Of these mammals,12
species had a high conservation status based on
their occurrence in the threatened categories of
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species or/and
the Appendices of CITES.
Three of these species, the ocelot, puma and
jaguar are common at Brownsberg. All 12
species seem to be stable. Eight of the 12 species
were proven to reproduce in the area, the four
species without proof of reproduction are
extremely elusive and/or rare (giant anteater,
bush dog, margay and oncilla) and may
reproduce in the area as well.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by funding from the
Belgian Directorate-General for Development
Cooperation (DGDC) and the Flemish
Interuniversity Council (VLIR-UOS)
We like to thank all persons that on occasion
helped us in the field: Geeta Thakoerdien, Usha
Satnarain, Niradj Hanoeman, Mercedes
Hardjoprajitno, Cindyrella Kasanpawiro,
Richero Kasanwidjojo, Carlo Koorndijk,
Gunovaino Marjanom, Dimitri Ouboter, Naomi
Reussien, Artie Sewdien and Sergio Doelasan.
The coordinator of the VLIR MSc Sustainable
Management of Natural Resources, Riad
Nurmohamed and the VLIR Secretariat always
supported us fully. STINASU granted us
permission to carry out this research project at
the Brownsberg Nature Park.
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