The degradation of lake La Pastora as an example of Amazon freshwater ecosystems facing gold mining
As part of a research trip outside protected areas, the giant otter team recently visited lake La Pastora, deep inside the Madre de Dios...
Five years of The Peru Giant Otter Conservation Program - what we have done and where we are
This journey started in lake Salvador, Manu National Park, five years ago. I was accompanied by collaborators Dr. Ron Swaisgood and...
Sociality and signaling activity influence river otter scent-marking behavior
We have recently published a paper in Behavioral Ecology describing our work in coastal Alaska. Using camera-trap footage, we analyzed...
Giant otter research and gold mining in the Amazon during the COVID-19 pandemic
Peru has been hit harder than most countries by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 30,000 fatalities. The country is currently going...
People behind the giant otter project - Romina Najarro
We are surveying a beautiful oxbow lake in the buffer zone of Manu National Park for otter presence. With me on the rubber boat is one of...
Where do giant otters go in the rainforest’s wet season?
Conducting field research in the tropics is challenging. Working in the Peruvian Amazon during the rainy season, between November and...
A morning in Tres Islas, a native community in the gold mining area
It is a scorcher in the southwestern Peruvian Amazon. Accompanied by the Giant Otter Conservation Project’s human dimensions team, I...
People behind the Peru giant otter conservation project: Alejandro (‘Apu’) Alarcon Pardo
Alejandro Alarcon Pardo (Apu) has been a field assistant with the Peru giant otter conservation project for the last two years. He has...
Working with local communities in Peru’s Amazonian gold mining area
It is a scorching July morning in the lower part of Peru’s Madre de Dios river. Armed with tablets, printed questionnaires, and pens, a...
