Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wildlife Preservation....a good thing???

Hello friends! I want to tell you about another animal that has come back to Golfito. It's a "bitter-sweet" return however.  A caretaker for the property of a local ex-pat reported last week the loss of his dogs. One moment they were running and playing in the yard and the next they made a run straight into the jungle, obviously interested in a bit of adventure.  Well they got it!  At sunset, the dogs had not returned and worry set in. Morning arrived and he decided to go up the trail that leads to the water source on the property and YIKES!!!! At the top of the trail he came face to face with a jaguar!  He started to move slowly back and when he turned to retreat, there was ANOTHER. He looked for his best option out and believe it or not- ONE MORE!!!! He decided to RUN!!!!! We have since learned that the dogs did not ever return and that mother jaguars more commonly have 2 cubs and they raise them until the cubs are fully mature. We can only speculate, but sadly enough, we think it's obvious the return of the animals to our wildlife corridor will come at some sad cost to our neighbors with pets who live on the fringe of the corridor.... and maybe even for those of us further into the urban zones.  I say this because another friend, Mariana the local dentist, told us that she was driving back to Golfito (night time).  She had to stop the car suddenly near the Hotel Ceibo at the Las Gaviota junction because there was a jaguar in the middle of the street! She said she told several people about this but nobody believed her.....well now I can say, MARIANA I BELIEVE YOU!!!!  What do you all think we should do about this new exciting yet scarey development in our surrounds?!!