Ocelots near the lodge

This month, we were visited on two occasions by an ocelot (leopardus pardalis). We saw one ocelot on the river bank. It swam across the river and then watched us as we passed it with our canoes. Ocelots are nocturnal, so to see it during the day like this was a rare treat. If you look at the tail of this ocelot, you will see that a large part of it is without fur. Ocelots are fiercely territorial and we believe that this missing fur on its tail could have been caused by a territorial dispute with another ocelot. Ocelots have a varied diet, but they mainly eat small mammals, of which there are many in the forests and fields around our lodge.
Then, just yesterday, another ocelot was spotted resting in the forest behind the lodge. The nervous calls of the purplish jays, the plush-crested jays and the bare-faced currasows are what made us aware of the ocelot's presence.

Monkeys in the trees

A group of black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) live in the forest behind the lodge. There is one black adult male in the group, who can often be heard making a deep roaring (or howling) call at dawn, as a way of telling other potentially rival males that this is his territory. The call can be heard up to 5km away...

The females and youngsters in the group have more of a yellowish-buff colour. These monkeys spend about 70% of their day resting and sleeping in the trees. Their diet consists primarily of leaves, although they might occasionally eat fruits too. Generally howler monkeys like to stay in the trees, only descending to the ground to drink water during dry periods.