LA SELVA-BRAULIO CARRILLO MAMMALS 



141 



An adult mountain lion was seen crossing a trail near the Magsaysay guard 

 station at 200 m in January 1986 by Reinaldo Aguilar Fernandez, a park guard. 

 A second mountain lion was seen at 1,000 m by a group on 21 February 1987. 

 Mountain lions have been observed on 12 occasions at La Selva. On one of these 

 occasions, two adult-sized animals were sighted together. Hartshorn (in litt.) ob- 

 served three mountain lions in Parque Nacional BrauUo Carrillo along the Rio Patria 

 in 1986. 



Specimen examined (1)— Moravia, Finca Tomas Guardia [1 male, UNA]. 



Felis onca 

 Jaguar, Tigre 



Jaguars historically were found as far north as die Grand Canyon and Califor- 

 nia in the United States, through Mexico, all of Central America, and much of 

 South America to northern Argentina (Fig. 110). In Costa Rica, the subspecies 

 Felis onca centralis was once found from sea level to the higher forested eleva- 

 tions, although now its numbers and distribution have been reduced by hunting 

 pressure and habitat destruction (Koford 1983a). Jaguars are included on both the 

 Costa Rican and U.S. endangered species lists. 



Jaguars are the largest terrestrial predators in the Neotropics. In Belize, arma- 

 dillos, pacas, and brocket deer composed 94% of the diet of these nocturnal felids, 

 although a wide variety of medium-sized mammals is consumed. There is exten- 

 sive range overlap between males and females, but individuals are spaced within 

 the territory to avoid contact with conspecifics except during the mating season. 

 Males apparently use a small area for up to 2 weeks before shifting to another 

 area (Rabinowitz and Nottingham 1986). 



Jaguars have been seen eight times at La Selva. On several occasions, Vaughan 

 tried unsuccessfully to capture and translocate a jaguar that had been killing livestock 

 around Puerto Viejo since 1986. The local residents believe that it lives in La Selva. 

 They have been seen at La Selva with increasing frequency in recent years. We 

 found numerous large scats that we presume to be from a jaguar near the 2,050-m 

 camp. At La Selva we have twice identified the remains of tamanduas in the scats 

 of jaguars, although sloths and green iguanas are the primary prey items found 

 in jaguar scats there (Greene and Losos 1988). Park guards reported to us that 

 a jaguar was observed just before our 1986 expedition at 200 m within the park. 

 In the Zona Protectora, Pringle et al. (1984:198) reported that "We repeatedly 

 encountered tracks of Felis onca (jaguar) throughout the ZP [Zona Protectora], 

 and a fresh scat was observed on the trail east of the base camp." 



Felis pardalis 

 Ocelot, Manigordo or Ocelote 



Ocelots are found from the southern United States along the Pacific and Carib- 

 bean coasts of Mexico through much of Central America to northern Argentina. 

 The subspecies Felis pardalis meamsi is found in Costa Rica. Ocelots occur in 

 a variety of habitats including dense forest, second growth, and agricultural areas. 



