Tortuguero National Park is a vital haven for both species, being home to an unknown number of jaguars and the world's largest green turtle population. The park is an important nesting ground for the turtles and therefore globally vital for producing future generations of the species.
Jaguar kills account for a total of 676 marine turtle deaths between 2005 (when researchers started recording the killings) and 2010. All were green turtles with the exception of three hawksbills and one leatherback turtle. The researchers say this predation of adult turtles 'has now reached a magnitude never before recorded.'
With both jaguars and turtles being flagship conservation species, what action can conservationists take?
Diogo Verissimo, researcher with the Durrell Institute of Ecology and Conservation and Global Vision International, involved in conservation of marine turtles in the Tortuguero area, has brought the problem to light in the research paper, titled 'Jaguar Panthera onca predation of marine turtles: conflict between flagship species in Tortuguero, Costa Rica', in Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation published for Fauna & Flora International by Cambridge University Press.
He admitted that this issue has got conservationists scratching their heads, and sometimes falling out. Verissimo and his colleagues say that cooperation between the champions of each species needs to be stepped up, adding this complex problem will not have any easy solution.
Reproduced courtesy of Cambridge University Press.
For further information, please contact Vicky Westmore at press@cambridge.org
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