The FLONA do Jamari

I made three working trips into the Amazon forest in two different areas over the course of my Fulbright. The first forest region was in the state of Rondônia, an area called the FLONA do Jamari. I believe that stands for Floresta Nacional do Jamari (National Forest of the Jamari). The Jamari is a river tributary of the Rio Madeira which in turn feeds into the Amazon river.

 On this trip the goal was to assess the recovery of forest patches in areas that had once been the site of large mineral mining operations. We were conducting surveys of mammals of medium and large size in these forests that had been allowed to regrow. Remnants of the mines were still everywhere. Our job was to walk 12km of forest daily and record any animal sightings (or hearings), the number/size of the group, sex and age when possible, the distance from our trails, height above the ground, where they were spotted and to note any other interesting features of the animals. I saw some amazing creatures.

A Wedell's saddle-backed tamarin carrying a baby tamarin. Photo courtesy of Natalia.

 My first day out I spotted Saguinus wedelli, Wedell's saddle-backed tamarin, within the first half-hour! This is one of the species I was studying! They make a chirping sound very similar to a bird's. They are incredibly curious monkeys, and although they maintain a safe distance, they are clearly visible and bend their heads side to side while thoroughly investigating researchers. They are one of the easiest monkeys to see as the stay lower on the trunks of trees whereas other monkeys tend to stay higher in the canopy, at the very top.  

 I often saw them in mixed groups with the Rondon's marmoset, Mico rondoni. This marmoset is much more shy than the similar sized tamarin and maintained much more distance from us, but was still visible and incredible to finally see. I had spent the last three years studying these and other members of the primate family Callitrichidae (marmosets and tamarins), and it was my first time seeing them in the wild!

We saw monkeys more than anything actually: capuchins, spider monkeys, titi monkeys, and we even heard some elusive saki monkeys. There were also coatis, squirrels, anteaters, tapirs and agoutis. We also saw tons of birds of course, including many of one member of my new study group, Penelope jacquacu, Spix's guan. These birds resemble a tropical version of turkeys. Incredible iridescent blue butterflies that are biological indicators of a relatively happy healthy forest. I saw a few frogs and even snakes. In fact, I nearly stepped on a jararaca.

The pit viper I nearly stepped on, the Brazil's Lancehead. A beautiful animal that does a great job of camouflaging in the leaf litter.

This pit viper was curled up on the forest trail. The species is Bothrops brazili (Brazil's Lancehead). She was beautiful. And terrifying. But it is very rare to see these snakes, só don't let that stop you from visiting or working in forests! In fact, one student who studies them told me they were nearly impossible to find when people were actively looking for them! Lucky me :P

A group of wild peccaries. You can see two baby peccaries in the background. Notice they are a different color than the adults. This coloration likely helps keep them hidden from predators.

We also saw two species of pecaris, animals that resemble wild pigs. The more “dangerous” species is a noisy animal that travels in large groups and are known locally as “queixada” (pronounced kay-shaw-da). I was told that they will run after researchers gnashing their teeth and biting. The only way to escape them is to climb up onto something high off the ground since they cannot themselves climb. My forest partner and I came across a particularly large group of queixada one day, which we hid out of sight from for fiften minutes until they all passed. After the experience we decided to play a trick on the other team and ran panicked to the car screaming that a group of queixada were after us. We were very convincing, perhaps inspired by the actual encounter, and they fell for it. Happily, I was never actually pursued by any forest animals.

We saw many signs of predators, including jaguars and pumas, in the area. Everything from the leftovers of kills to the paw prints of adults with cubs. Big cats seemed to be doing well in that part of the forest. The highlight of my time in the FLONA do Jamari happened after my forest partner and I stopped to record some peccaries that were behaving strangely. We stopped behind them on the trail, and when they noticed us, the juveniles (teenagers) ran circles around us, and they all stayed in pretty close proximity. 
We weren't sure what was happening but we decided to seize the opportunity to get some nice pics and attempt some footage in the weak light of the forest. I decided to walk on ahead of my partner while she continued to snap pictures. Not too much further up the trail, there was a bend and as I followed it.  I looked up and I saw a puma (Puma concolor)! She was right in front of me just 6 feet off the trail! Of course I got no pictures or videos of this rarely seen animal. The puma was gone only seconds after I spotted her stalking that group of pecari. But I was só excited and terrified to see her that in that moment I really wasn't thinking about getting a picture of her. 

Paw print of a baby puma or jaguar. Flona do Jamari, 2015.

Tapir track in sand near a stream. Flona do Jamari, 2015.

She was by far one of the most exciting creatures I've ever seen in the wild. I was also pretty nervous to be staring into the face of such a powerful animal. But she simply looked at me and walked briskly away from me. I loved everything about that moment. Including that I had been alone when I saw her.  ​

Wild pineapple!

Unidentified Amazonian Fruit!

Unidentified Fungus!

We also spent time putting up camera traps. These cameras take pictures automatically when they sense movement. It was interesting to learn about the diverse strategies there are for placing these traps in the forest for monitoring purposes. Open areas surrounding water seemed to be a favorite spot for successfully capturing animal movement. Some models record short video in addition to taking photos which helps in behavioral studies.

 I had envisioned an off-road vehicle for traveling on roads that enter parts of the forest, something similar to a jeep or land rover. Even a pick-up. However, this everyday car was all we had.  It wasn't a car I thought should be out on the rough dirt roads full of pot-holes but hey, gotta work with what ya got.
Our last day out in the forest, our little car broke down in the middle of the forest. It was the end of the day as we customarily started around 6AM and finished our hikes around 4 or 5PM. Although we tried for over an hour, we couldn't fix it, so we had two options. Stay in the car on the trail until someone came looking for us (which they definitely would have because we were sharing our lodging with two other teams) or start walking the very very long walk (40+ minutes by car) back to our camp. I was out voted and we started walking. The sun was setting when another group of researchers came upon us in their vehicle. However, there were four of us and the car was already full with another team who's car had also broken down that day! They instructed us to stay on the side of the road while they went to fix our car and bring it back. They warned us to stay vigilent and sit back to back since it had been raining the last few days. When it rains, apparently its harder for jaguars to hunt – and they might be hungry. Now...I still don't know if this was someone's idea of a joke, as previously I was told the jaguars in this area were nothing to worry about as long as you respected their space. Still, the suggestion left me nervous.  ​

Our Amazon Forest Cruiser. I was surprised by how well this vehicle worked for us until the last day.

Amazon Forest Cruiser with a flat. The skilled Natalia is changing the tire. Just one of many talented women on our all female team.

The mosquitos started to come out so I started applying some repellent. I rested my right hand on the ground for a moment and felt something start to crawl over it. I reached down casually to brush it off thinking it was just another harmless bug and it turned out to be a Tucandeira (or Bullet) ant. This animal has one of the most painful stings in the animal kingdom. So much so that in the Sateré-Mawé tribe, they are used in a right of passage for young men. The young men stick their hands in mittens filled with the ants and withstand multiple bites from the ants, all the while showing no sign of experiencing pain (see the ritual here). Well...the ant bit me and I lost it. It was so painful I involuntarily shrieked and started crying. The bug repellent I'd just been using went squirting all over the road. And that was just one ant and one sting! Imagine the resolve of those young tribal members! My wrist was swollen and painful until the next day.

And so, my first time working in the Amazon forest was an adventure in all the best ways. I spent the majority of the time with some part of my body soaking wet, usually my feet, but sometimes dripping from head to toe after some rain. It was a fun and challenging time. Unfortunately, most of the footage I got was primarily scenic as my GoPro's lens doesn't zoom and is not powerful enough to pick up objects that are distant. As you can probably guess, wild animals don't typically cozy up to strange humans that intently watch them with strange objects like cameras in their hands. Some of the pictures included were graciously provided by one of the team members on this trip, Natalia.
​Anyway, hope you enjoyed this entry! Until next time.  Janet

Me pulling my foot out of a boot full of water after walking through a flooded trail.

Small forest stream crossing the trail. Flona do Jamari, 2015.

List of Mammal Species spotted with scientific names. Click the links to see Google images of these amazing animals to get a feel for what I saw in the forest! If you want the names of anything else, leave a comment.

Wedell's Saddle-backed Tamarin - Saguinus wedelli
Rondon's marmoset - Mico rondoni
Tufted Capuchin - Sapajus apella
Peruvian Spider Monkey - Ateles chamek
Titi Monkey - Callicebus spp.
Saki Monkey - Pithecia spp.
Collared Peccary - Pecari tajacu
White-lipped Peccary - Tayassu pecari
Collared Anteater - Tamandua tetradactyla
Coati - Nasua nasua
Puma - Puma concolor
Jaguar - Panthera onca
Brazilian Tapir - Tapirus terrestris