Last week on the Wild Wire blog, we told you that, this past year, Earth Rangers across Canada and the United States adopted over 200 jaguars! Every jaguar adoption kit sold supported the International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC) and Osa Conservation. These organizations protect native habitat for jaguars in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, a beautiful and diverse rainforest ecosystem. Today, we’re here with even more good news – especially for future scientists and conservationists!

From Earth Rangers to Rainforest Protectors

You’re an Earth Ranger now – but did you know that you can be a ranger when you grow up, too? Wildlife rangers and park rangers are people whose job is to protect nature! They patrol protected land, monitor wild animals, combat poaching, work with local communities, manage natural disasters, and show tourists the beauty of nature.

Osa Conservation brings together dozens of volunteer rangers from all over Costa Rica to protect the natural resources of their home. These rangers are also known as Rainforest Protectors. In 2023, they carried out fourteen field expeditions to conserve wildlife in the Osa Peninsula’s rainforest — including, of course, jaguars! They patrolled 31,076.2 kilometres (19,309 miles) and logged 22,587 observations of 6,535 plant, animal, and insect species.

“We do not want generations to grow up without knowing was lives in these forests,” said Yolanda Rodriguez, one of Osa Conservation’s Rainforest Protectors. “What is in the forest is ours; it is our responsibility to protect it.”

Thanks to these Rainforest Protectors, the species that live and grow in the Osa Peninsula are being well-cared for. And future generations of conservationists and scientists have even more information about this incredibly biodiverse rainforest!

Want to Work in the Rainforest When You Grow Up?

If you want to protect the rainforest when you grow up, here’s some good news: You can! Osa Conservation has a beautiful campus in the middle of the rainforest where conservationists come from all over the world to study and learn.

In 2023, Osa Conservation gave five young conservationists full scholarships to live on the Osa Peninsula for six months and study the beautiful and unique rainforest ecosystem. These young ecologists and biologists had the chance to learn from more experienced conservationists and research wildlife that they wouldn’t encounter anywhere else!

From studying native plants to measuring the impact of microplastics to building treetop bridges for animals like monkeys, these young scientists all made the Osa Peninsula a safer and more comfortable place for jaguars. You made their scholarships possible by adopting jaguars. Maybe, a few years in the future, you’ll become a scientist and receive a scholarship of your own!

The Jaguars Thank You!

Or, at least, they would if they could talk! For now, please accept a big round of applause from all of us at Earth Rangers, and from our friends at Osa Conservation and the International Conservation Fund of Canada, for all your hard work protecting jaguars, supporting conservation science, and protecting the rainforest.

Hi, I’m Yifeng Wang! I study geography at Queen’s University. This past year, I’ve been busy in the permafrost peatlands of Newfoundland and Labrador, where herds of caribou roam. In the peatlands, thick layers of decaying plants called peat help the ground stay frozen. Lichen and plants that caribou love to eat grow all over the peatlands.

But because of climate change, caribou are having a harder time finding food to eat and places to live. I’ve been studying the ways that the permafrost is changing so that we can figure out how to protect caribou for generations to come.

This past year, Earth Rangers across Canada adopted nearly 150 caribou! I really appreciate your support. It makes me so happy to know that there are so many young people out there who are invested in the conservation of permafrost peatlands as critical habitat for caribou. You’ve made a tremendous contribution to my work! Here’s everything that I’ve been able to accomplish because of your adoptions.

Too Many Shrubs, Too Much Snow!

This past year has been very busy. I’ve been working with the data I collected from my study sites last summer. It helps us understand the condition of the permafrost. We are using the data to predict how the permafrost might respond to climate warming, shrub growth, and snow trapping. As the climate warms, shrubs are growing taller. They’re spreading into areas that used to be shrub-free. As the shrubs grow taller, they trap snow, which insulates and warms the ground. This ultimately makes the permafrost thaw, which means that caribou have less access to food and water. I’m using my data to predict how much the permafrost will change because of the increase in shrubs and snow.

Caribou in the Community

This winter, I went back to coastal Labrador to visit Cartwright and Black Tickle, two of the communities that we work in. I made sure that all of our weather stations were in tip-top shape. During my visits, I set up tents so that people in the communities could drop by, say hi, and chat with me about climate change and wildlife research. These events were really fun! In Cartwright, a caribou trotted right past our tent! In Black Tickle, the smell of hot dogs attracted a curious little arctic fox. And during my travels on the Island of Ponds, where Black Tickle is located, we saw several herds of caribou, all pawing away at the snow and snacking on lichen. It was great to see so many caribou out and about near Cartwright and Black Tickle!

Thanks to your adoptions, I’ll get to throw even more fun community events this summer! I plan to bring members of the community out by speedboat to pick bakeapples–a very culturally important berry, also known as liquid gold! It can be hard to pick bakeapples, especially because of rising fuel costs and thawing permafrost. I’m grateful that your support is giving me more time to practical traditional activities like berry-picking with members of the community in coastal Labrador. Working with these communities makes it easier for us to come up with innovative solutions to climate change and protect the permafrost peatlands.

What Can We Do Now?

This year’s caribou adoption project might be over, but there are still lots of ways to support animal conservation in our day-to-day lives. I think that becoming an Earth Ranger is a great way to start! The foundation of conservation is respecting the land. When you talk about conservation with friends, family, and other Earth Rangers, when you read books about animals and the environment, and when you spend time outdoors connecting with nature, you’re building that kind of respect in important ways.

Thanks again for supporting my research and adopting caribou! Stay tuned on the Wild Wire blog to learn about even more ways to protect animals in Canada’s beautiful Arctic Circle.

This past year, Earth Rangers across Canada and the United States adopted over 200 jaguars! That’s a lot of cool cats! Thanks to kids like you, we’ve been able to support the International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC) and Osa Conservation. These organizations protect the tropical rainforest of Costa Rica’s beautiful Osa Peninsula, which is one of the most biodiverse regions on earth – and native habitat for many jaguars!

Restoring the Rainforest

There are many threats to the beautiful jungles that jaguars call home. These old growth forests are vulnerable to logging and human development. Osa Conservation’s “Ridge to Reef” project aims to restore animal habitat in these forests. They want to make it easier for jaguars and other animals to move from place to place within the jungle. To do that, they need to create and protect what are called wildlife corridors–like highways for animals, but with native plants and trees instead of concrete!

On the Osa peninsula, conservationists work hand in hand with thousands of members of the community to restore rainforest ecosystems. This past year alone, they worked together to restore over 140 hectares of degraded land. That’s about as big as 140 Major League Baseball diamonds!

Helping Baby Trees Grow

Diversity is the key to healthy rainforests. That means the Osa Conservation team planted 319 distinct species of native trees. Their scientists went on expeditions deep into the rainforest to collect seeds from rare species. To help these trees grow tall and strong, a team of over a dozen local communities looks after a network of tree nurseries.

A tree nursery is exactly what it sounds like: a place where baby trees receive the care they need to grow big and strong. Even the tallest tree begins life as a teeny-tiny seed. In an Osa Conservation tree nursery, a seed can sprout into a sapling and grow its first branches and leaves, all without natural threats, like strong winds and rains, or manmade threats, like logging.

In 2023, Osa Conservation planted 107,565 native trees! That’s more than they’ve planted in any year in history. The jaguars that live on the Osa Peninsula now have a richer, denser, and more biodiverse rainforest to live, play, and raise their cubs in.

Bringing Back Jaguars’ Favourite Snack

Jaguars aren’t the only animals that call the Osa Peninsula home. Jaguars are carnivores, which means they can only eat meat. They survive by hunting other animals, and their primary prey source—sort of like their favourite snack—is a hairy, pig-like creature called the white-lipped peccary.

Historically, mega-herds of white-lipped peccaries roamed southern Costa Rica, giving jaguars plenty of their favourite food to eat. But because of mining, poaching, and deforestation, which means chopping down trees, white-lipped peccaries became extirpated on the Osa Peninsula. This means that there were no white-lipped peccaries left on the entire peninsula!

In 2023, Osa Conservation launched a plan to bring the white-lipped peccary back to Piedras Blancas National Park, an area of protected rainforests and beaches on the southeastern Osa Pensinula. They worked with local communities and governments to get every detail of the plan just right. Starting in 2024, white-lipped peccaries will be back on the menu for jaguars on the Osa Peninsula!

But That’s Not All!

These are just a few of the incredible changes that you’ve made possible by adopting a jaguar! Check the Wild Wire blog next week for another update on everything that Osa Conservation has accomplished for jaguars. And if you haven’t already adopted a jaguar, there’s still time to purchase a wildlife adoption kit and support jaguar conservation — just click the “Shop” button in the site header or visit the adoption section in the Earth Rangers App!