Rare Peruvian Animals Captured in Camera Trap Footage
Posted on September 21, 2015
Biologists have captured some rare Peruvian animals on film. The footage is from camera traps placed in the Sira Communal Reserve of Peru. The footage was captured during an expedition to a remote high altitude forest in the Cerros del Sira.
The animals captured on film include the vulnerable spectacled bear (also known as the Andean bear). The children's book character Paddington Bear is based on this species. The first ever footage of the the Sira Currasow, a critically endangered bird, was also recorded. The 22 crowd funded camera traps were placed in March 2015.
The expedition included local scientists from Peru. It was led by biologists Dr. Chris Beirne from the University of Exeter and Andy Whitworth from the Crees Foundation and the University of Glasgow.
Dr. Beirne says in a statement, "The results of our expedition and these incredible videos highlight the importance of the Sira Communal Reserve in maintaining biodiversity in the region. Capturing the first ever camera trap footage of the Sira Currasow is an important proof-of-concept for this technology. It is clearly going to be invaluable in the future to help us understand more about the ecology and limited distribution of this critically endangered bird as well as other little known species."
The researchers documented 145 species of bird, 41 species of amphibian, 10 species of lizard and 7 species of snakes. Two lizards and three frogs are thought to be new species. One of the possible new species - a Pristimantis rain frog - is pictured below. You can view of Flickr slideshow of the creatures captured by still hidden cameras here.
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