Introduction - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 21

see themswooping, searching for insects via echolocation. And, by the
way, the twigs under the roof don't work.
Tapirs
Less-developed sections of the upper Amazon Basin are still home to
the pig-like tapir, an animal prized by indigenous people for its sa-
vorymeat. One of the tapir's unique characteristics is its strong inter-
est in swimming pools, where it can be spotted during many of its
waking hours. A large mammal, the tapir is easy to hunt and there-
fore is quickly disappearing throughout the colonized areas of the
Oriente.
Kinkajous
A favorite cloud-forest species is the nocturnal kinkajou, a member of
the raccoon family native to South America. A good ear is all it takes
to locate these evening fruitarians as they drop seeds from the tree-
tops. If you shine your headlamp upward, the kinkajou will reflect
back as two red, gleaming, peering eyes. Its prehensile tail allows it to
hang from branches. In full view, the kinkajou appears almost like a
cross between a cat and amonkey, with a thick, full tail and a curious,
infant-like face.
Cats
Your chances of actually seeing one of Ecuador's elusive
predatory cats in the wild are slim. Among the cats are the
jaguar , ocelot , margay , and jaguarundi , and, in the
highlands, the mountain lion , locally known as puma.
The small, secretive ocelot is beautifully camouflaged in shades of
brown, black, and cream. Sometimes together, amale and female will
hunt anything from birds and monkeys to frogs and fish. The even-
smaller margay is sometimes referred to as the ocelot “copycat,” col-
ored in reddish-gray fur with black spots or streaks. Weighing only
nine to 18 pounds and measuring just 32 to 51 inches in length, this
natural acrobat can jump fromground to tree limb with little effort as
it hunts rodents, rabbits, and birds. Margays particularly like to leap
from high perches, even when they're not hunting!
These territorial hunters, particularly the big cats, represent the top
of the tropical food chain and require large, intact tracts of land.
Therefore, they serve as good indicator species, being among the first
of the wildlife to feel the effects of deforestation and fragmentation.
Although you may not see one in the wild (cats are nocturnal), know
that they may very well be around. If you're lucky, your guide may
even spot a paw print somewhere along the way.