The recent capture of a short-eared dog in Pampas del Heath, Bahuaja Sonene National Park —extending across Madre de Dios and Puno regions— amazed the Peruvian and international scientific community.
Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas (Sernanp) informed this rare species, captured by cameras traps installed in Pampa del Heath, had not been detected in 30 years.
The discovery was made by researchers from Sernanp and Frankfurt Zoological Society-Peru as they browsed the memory card of one of the 20 camera traps placed around Pampas del Heath.
This important find confirms the presence of the species in the humid tropical savanna. The capture was obtained by camera traps, essential tools for the scientific work carried out along protected natural areas.
The short-eared dog, also known as small-eared zorro, was first described in 1983, while its first appearance in the Amazon area was in 1987. The specimen is listed as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2013.
According to Sernanp, this confirms the humid tropical savanna of Pampas del Heath is part of its natural habitat, in addition to the rainy Amazon rainforest.
(END) NDP/MAO/RMB/MVB
Published: 4/29/2016