osa corovado park die off?
Dec 12th, 2005, 01:15 PM
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osa corovado park die off?
hi we saw in am costa rica and the tico times that Eduardo Carrillo, a Universidad Nacional biologist with expertise in Parque Nacional Corcovado Carrillo, reached at his Heredia office, said that perhaps half the monkeys and birds at the park have died. He is the first official to confirm the massive die-off, although residents of the area suspected as much. has anyone heard from that area? hope all is fine ??
Dec 12th, 2005, 01:45 PM
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I believe you allready posted this a few days ago ...? If you are having difficulty finding your original post just click on your name and previous posts will show up . Then you could just " ttt " to bring it to the top . ( for more responses ) GoodLuck ! ( I'd still go by the way !! )
Jan 4th, 2006, 04:44 AM
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Animal malaria dismissed as possible cause of Corcovado die-off
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Though parasites were present in the blood samples of the dead monkeys from Parque Nacional Corcovado, the agent that causes malaria wasn't one of them, said Edwardo Carrillo.
Carrillo, a biologist associated with the Universidad Nacional, is one of the lead researchers looking into the deaths of the animals in the park that forced officials to close it Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
Malaria parasites, carried by mosquitoes, can be found in birds as well as primates and for this reason, the disease seemed a strong candidate for the increase in deaths, which began in October. However, Carrillo was adamant about the lack of malaria parasites in the blood samples sent to a Texas lab and elsewhere.
Even if malaria were the cause of death of the animals in Corcovado, there is only one type of mosquito that can cause the disease in humans, and animal malaria cannot be passed to humans and vice versa.
When asked to expand on the types of parasites found in the samples, Carrillo would only say that they were normal. He maintained that the strong rains generated by the busiest Atlantic Hurricane season on record ruined the development of the fruits that the animals feed on. As a result, their immune systems, already weakened by hunger, were not able to fight off the diseases, they would normally be able to.
Carrillo said that the species biologists and park officials were most worried about were monkeys. For this reason, researchers had only sent blood samples from monkeys to the lab for analysis. Carrillo as well as hotel owners and residents near the park, said in December that toucans, macaws and sloths were also dying at an above average rate.
Carrillo was the man who estimated in mid-December that perhaps half the monkeys had died in the sprawling park located on the Osa Peninsula.
Jan 4th, 2006, 04:56 AM
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Corcovado test results still unavailable.
Hunger still best guess for dead park animals
By Jesse Froehling
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Investigators continue to blame the deaths of monkeys, birds and other animals at Parque Nacional Corcovado on malnutrition.
Alejandra Monge said that her foundation had been working with Grace Wong and Edwardo Carrillo, the head researchers investigating the deaths, and that the results of blood and tissue samples showed that the dead animals had nothing in common except a lack of nutrition.
Ms. Monge is executive director of the Fundación Corcovado which helps support the park, which is located on the Osa Peninsula in extreme southwest Costa Rica.
Malnutrition is what officials said when the deaths were reported. In early December one of the chief researchers said that half the monkeys in the park may have died. The deaths were attributed to the intense rainy season, officials said then.
Tuesday, Fabian Sandoval Bello, tourism coordinator of the park, amplified this explanation. The animals either simply died of starvation or parasites that were already present in their systems fought through the animals' weakened immune systems and killed them, he said.
Because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays researchers directly involved in the project have not been available. The park was closed Dec. 5 to Dec. 20 as a precautionary measure.
When the park closed, officials sent blood and tissue samples from the dead animals to laboratories in Texas and elsewhere to determine the cause of death. The exact
nature of the reports have not been made
public. Nor have the exact nature of the parasites been disclosed.
It's hard to believe that a sloth could die from hunger. They eat leaves, said Sierra Goodman. She is the owner of the Delfín Amor Eco Lodge in Drake Bay, just north of the park.
I had a sloth die right on my doorstep and he wasn't skinny, Ms. Goodman said. She agreed that the lack of nutrition could have been the culprit. After all, she said, this year's rains were the hardest she had seen in her seven years in the country and the landscape was damaged.
It could have been a mold, or a nutritional thing, but it's difficult to believe that hunger killed so many animals, she said.
Whatever the cause, the unusual number of deaths seem to have stopped.
Ms. Wong is a primatologist specializing in monkeys and Carrillo is a biologist. Both are associated with Universidad Nacional in Heredia.
Carrillo said Dec. 8 in a telephjone interview that the last time animals in the park died in such drastic numbers, the culprit was yellow fever. That was some time in the 1950s. He estimated that this time perhaps half the monkeys in the park had died, but officials were not able to provide any firm numbers.
Park officials were known to have been worried that any publication of the animal deaths might hurt tourism. As a result, the original order for closing the park did not become available until a park employee faxed the paper to a reporter several days after it had been signed.
Hunger still best guess for dead park animals
By Jesse Froehling
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Investigators continue to blame the deaths of monkeys, birds and other animals at Parque Nacional Corcovado on malnutrition.
Alejandra Monge said that her foundation had been working with Grace Wong and Edwardo Carrillo, the head researchers investigating the deaths, and that the results of blood and tissue samples showed that the dead animals had nothing in common except a lack of nutrition.
Ms. Monge is executive director of the Fundación Corcovado which helps support the park, which is located on the Osa Peninsula in extreme southwest Costa Rica.
Malnutrition is what officials said when the deaths were reported. In early December one of the chief researchers said that half the monkeys in the park may have died. The deaths were attributed to the intense rainy season, officials said then.
Tuesday, Fabian Sandoval Bello, tourism coordinator of the park, amplified this explanation. The animals either simply died of starvation or parasites that were already present in their systems fought through the animals' weakened immune systems and killed them, he said.
Because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays researchers directly involved in the project have not been available. The park was closed Dec. 5 to Dec. 20 as a precautionary measure.
When the park closed, officials sent blood and tissue samples from the dead animals to laboratories in Texas and elsewhere to determine the cause of death. The exact
nature of the reports have not been made
public. Nor have the exact nature of the parasites been disclosed.
It's hard to believe that a sloth could die from hunger. They eat leaves, said Sierra Goodman. She is the owner of the Delfín Amor Eco Lodge in Drake Bay, just north of the park.
I had a sloth die right on my doorstep and he wasn't skinny, Ms. Goodman said. She agreed that the lack of nutrition could have been the culprit. After all, she said, this year's rains were the hardest she had seen in her seven years in the country and the landscape was damaged.
It could have been a mold, or a nutritional thing, but it's difficult to believe that hunger killed so many animals, she said.
Whatever the cause, the unusual number of deaths seem to have stopped.
Ms. Wong is a primatologist specializing in monkeys and Carrillo is a biologist. Both are associated with Universidad Nacional in Heredia.
Carrillo said Dec. 8 in a telephjone interview that the last time animals in the park died in such drastic numbers, the culprit was yellow fever. That was some time in the 1950s. He estimated that this time perhaps half the monkeys in the park had died, but officials were not able to provide any firm numbers.
Park officials were known to have been worried that any publication of the animal deaths might hurt tourism. As a result, the original order for closing the park did not become available until a park employee faxed the paper to a reporter several days after it had been signed.
