Caught On Camera - Conservation For Endangered Monkeys & More

Online, June 27, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Vital conservation research at the Ocho Verde reserve are receiving support through the international crowdfunding platform, IndieGoGo.com. To help save the lives of rare and endangered animals, the installation of twelve new trail cameras is of the utmost importance.

Charleston, South Carolina residents, Kate and Frank Fleming, are the owners of Ocho Verde, over 100 acres of pristine rainforest, which was established 15 years ago as a protected refuge for endangered Red-Backed Squirrel Monkeys. Replacement trail cameras are needed to prevent poaching, habitat destruction and to monitor the animal populations.

These trail cameras, also known as 'camera traps' by researchers, supply day and night film footage of animal activity. Scientists working on this year-long project can then easily identify the species living in this protected area, which lies near the Costa Rica-Panama border. These types of cameras have been used successfully in other wildlife conservation projects in countries as far-flung as India, Uganda and Australia, despite being first designed as an aid to hunters in tracking prey.

Jorge Ahumada, an ecologist with the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network (http://www.teamnetwork.org/) (TEAM) said that "camera traps are a useful, efficient, cost-effective, easily replicable tool to study and monitor terrestrial mammals" and "are reliable observers of the state of our world," after TEAM's successful use of the cameras led to them being employed in projects in 17 countries worldwide.

The Let's Go Trail Camera, named for its donator Vamos Rent-A-Car (http://vamos4x4.com) (vamos is Spanish for "Let's Go") is the latest acquisition and it will replace a camera that was knocked out of action by an over-curious Ocelot cub! To learn more about this project and how to help - even without donating, please visit the Monkeys, Pacas, Tigrillos. On My! Project (http://igg.me/at/ochoverde-game-cams/x/3153095) on IndieGoGo.com.

Media Contact:

Frank Fleming

Ocho Verde Preserve

Golfito, Costa Rica

Phone: (843) 814-2770

Email: [email protected]

Web: OchoVerde.com