Ecuador Rainforest - WCS

Ecuador Rainforest - WCS Santiago Espinosa, Wildlife Conservation Society research fellow, has come to expect the unexpected.

Espinosa is conducting the first-ever jaguar population count in Ecuador by placing camera traps (cameras that are activated by the heat of a passing animal) throughout the Amazon rainforest of Yasuní National Park. Jagu...ars and other animals literally photograph themselves as they pass by the cameras he sets up in some of the most remote regions in the country.

The cameras capture images of more than big cats. In a recent set of pictures, Espinosa discovered other rare rainforest animals and behaviors.

Thought to be largely tree dwellers, two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) are mostly nocturnal and spend their lives hanging on tree branches by their long, powerful claws. The only time sloths are known to come to the ground is when they want to switch trees, or when they need to defecate, which they do about once a week due to their low metabolism based on a diet of tree leaves.

It was a surprise for Espinosa to see this female two-toed sloth with her baby walking on the ground.

Santiago Espinosa’s work is funded by WCS, WWF, and the University of Florida.

Sloth Credit: ©Santiago Espinosa

Santiago photo credit: Julie Larsen Maher ©WCS