Trinidad Ocelot Project
The Trinidad Ocelot Project is a pioneering conservation effort to test and develop multi-stakeholder cooperation in assessing and conserving mammals in Trinidad. As one of the few continental tropical forest islands, Trinidad presents special opportunities to investigate questions in evolutionary biology. Ocelots in Trinidad are unique because they are the only population of potentially significant size that has been evolving in the absence of larger feline top predators like jaguars and pumas. However, basic data on ocelots and the animals sharing their habitats in Trinidad is lacking.
Our vision for the Trinidad Ocelot Project is to update and expand our knowledge of ocelot ecology in Trinidad through a network of collaborations. Our mission is to cooperatively collect population and habitat data on Trinidad's terrestrial mammals and increase the capacity of local organizations for public outreach, conservation, and scientific data collection.
The Trinidad Ocelot Project was initially funded through citizen science expeditions enabled by the Earthwatch Institute. It builds on activities implemented by the Department of Life Sciences of the University of West Indies through the Diploma/MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Caribbean (BCSDC) program. Field teams were trained and stationed at Hamgel Field Station. Experimental design expertise and program coordination was provided by S.P.E.C.I.E.S., researchers at the University of the West Indies implement and merge this work with their own as well as initiatives managed by the Trinidad & Tobago Environmental Management Authority. We are grateful to citizen scientists at the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists Club, and generous outreach support from El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation.
Our key aims are:
To facilitate research that is key to understanding the ecology and behavior of the ocelot and sympatric fauna in Trinidad
To incorporate social investigative approaches that enable integrative strategies to mitigate threats to Trinidad ecosystems and the mammals they support.
To build capacity in Trinidad to conduct ecological research, and create and implement conservation programs, through the creation of scientific and other professional development opportunities.
Work from the Trinidad Ocelot Project has contributed to relative abundance estimations for mammals at sites including The Asa Wright Nature Reserve, Aripo Savannahs, Arena Forest, Mourne Bleu, and SIMLA, and contributed to work supported by the Environmental Management Authority National Wildlife Survey. Outputs include:
● Contributions to multiple M.Sc. theses (Trinidad, Suriname),
● Contributions to LACCCB 2018 and multiple UWI research symposia,
● Reports to Trinidad’s Environmental Management Authority and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation/Global Environmental Facility,
● Development of locally used graduate-level course material.
In September 2017, Discovery Channel Canada's "Daily Planet" aired an episode featuring the Trinidad Ocelot Project. An excerpt of the episode can be viewed here.