Ronit Amit

University of Costa Rica | UCR · School of Biology

Darwin Initiative Main: Final Report, 2024 This project aimed to promote human-wildlife coexistence through a national contest leading to a network of model communities across Costa Rica. The initiative originated from the civil association Amigos de Felinos (AMFE), established in 2021. [Annexes and supplemental materials are available upon request...

Community-based conservation can support livelihoods and biodiversity, while reinforcing local and Indigenous values, cultures, and institutions. Its delivery can help address cross-cutting global challenges, such as climate change, conservation, poverty, and food security. Therefore, understanding trends in community-based conservation is pertinen...

Los estudios con cámaras trampa han capturado gran diversidad de comportamientos de la fauna silvestre, resaltando la importancia de la ecología del comportamiento para cumplir con los objetivos de gestión y conservación de la vida silvestre. Reportamos intentos de depredación de vampiros comunes (Desmodus rotundus) hacia el tapir centroamericano (...

Throughout their range, jaguars (Panthera onca) are persecuted for killing livestock, posing a widespread and serious threat to their survival. Human-jaguar conflict occurs across a very large variety of geographic, agronomic and socio-economic contexts and across heterogeneous communities. We conducted seventeen case studies across seven countries...

The increase in human tapir conflict and lack of management options is worrying and has been identified as a research priority in previous conservation planning reviews for the group. Crop-raiding by Baird’s tapir was reported on a private farm within the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve, Costa Rica. We conducted an open interview with the owner and ba...

Large mammalian herbivores are experiencing population reductions and range declines. However, we lack regional knowledge of population status for many herbivores, particularly in developing countries. Addressing this knowledge gap is key to implementing tailored conservation strategies for species whose population declines are highly variable acro...

For this reporting period, October 2016 to June 2017, we are half way on implementation of incentives to coexist with big cats at four rural communities in Costa Rica. This report is a way to request feedback.

Ranchers living near large carnivores can adopt diverse practices to prevent livestock damage. Effective management interventions to help reduce damage must address the varied needs of ranchers by segmenting audiences for more targeted programs. We developed a typology that conceptualized six types of ranchers based on the theory of planned behavio...

Motivating ranchers to adopt preventive husbandry practices that limit livestock depredation by large carnivores, such as jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor), requires reducing perceived barriers and increasing benefits associated with coexistence. We assessed stakeholder perspectives on preventive practices by conducting eight focus...

El taller “Viviendo con Felinos: Conservación que busca Desarrollo” se realizó el 19 de octubre del 2016 en la Escuela de Biología sede Universitaria Rodrigo Facio. Una de las metas del Foro fue la presentación de un nuevo proyecto titulado “Manejo Comunitario de Jaguares y Pumas, mediante de Incentivos para la Coexistencia”. Dada la necesidad de...

Managing conflicts between humans and large predators, such as livestock depredation by jaguars and pumas, is a complex task that must balance the interests of ranchers, conservationists, and regulators. This study documented and integrated the needs and values of stakeholders to develop incentives aimed at creating benefits and reducing costs of h...

Technical report about a consultation process with multiple stakeholders to develop a plan of incentives to coexist with big cats in Costa Rica.

Attacks by big cats on livestock are one of the major causes of human-felid conflicts and, therefore, an important factor in the conservation of these species. it has been argued that a reduction in natural prey abun-dance promotes attacks on domestic species, but few studies have tested this statement, and some have delivered contradictory results...

Human–felid conflicts threaten long-term conservation of jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor). We interviewed ranchers from 50 ranches and inspected farms in northern Costa Rica that reported recent attacks on livestock by these 2 felids. We analyzed ranch characteristics, livestock management practices, details of predation, estimated...

Mediante la búsqueda de rastros se estudió la relación entre la presencia del jaguar y la de mamíferos medianos y grandes que son sus presas potenciales en el Área de Conservación Guanacaste. El área de estudio fue dividida en 34 cuadrículas de 1 km2 donde se registró cada pista de rastros de mamíferos grandes (>12kg), mamíferos medianos (1,5 – 12...

Se estimó la población de jaguares del Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), al noroeste de Costa Rica, mediante el uso de cámaras trampa. Se aplicó el método de captura-recaptura para obtener la abundancia y se calculó la densidad según el área efectiva de muestreo. Para el Sector San Cristóbal el área efectiva de muestreo fue 164,81 km2. La abun...