By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police officers from the town of Upala, Alajuela, rescued a small wild cat that was wounded and walking around in the community known as Penca.
The margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest. In the Spanish language, it is known as caucel, tiger cat or tigrillo.
The police report that they received an emergency call about a feline that had been injured and was trying to hide between the courtyards of the houses. "After several minutes of crawling, we managed to find the wild cat," said the police in their report
After the rescue, the officers reported that the animal had some injuries, so it was taken to an organization that cares for wild animals found by the people around that area.
According to the specialists of Protected Areas of Costa Rica, the margay no longer exists in the wild in most of the country and can only be observed in national parks and biological reserves. "This feline had a wide distribution in Costa Rica from the coastal lands to the mountains of the interior and is currently an endangered species," said the specialists.
Another recent appearance of a wild cat was in March when a puma was captured in the back yard of a house in Tibas in San José
As A.M. Costa Rica reported on March 12, the puma caught in the town of Tibás was released next day into a safe wilderness area in the Braulio Carrillo National Park.
Pablo Vásquez of the National System of Conservation Areas said: "it is a large puma, the animal comes right from the forest, what we did was anesthetize it and move it to a natural area, where the animal can continue its life safely."
The feline's capture operation was in the charge of firefighters officials, police officers, specialists of the National System of Conservation Areas and specialists of the Ministry of Environment.
According to the specialists, the puma was a young adult male in a good physical condition and completely wild.
The presence of these animals in the area is possible since the Central Valley is surrounded by rural and protected wildlife areas. The animal could have left the Braulio Carrillo National Park and reached Tibas along the Virilla River.
"These wild animals can use the banks of the rivers as transit areas and in search of armadillos, raccoons and other wild species that they use as food” said the specialist in his statement.
Once the animal was anesthetized, blood and tissue samples were taken for DNA and disease analysis. He was checked for parasites and a satellite collar was attached so he could be tracked after his release in the Braulio Carrillo National Park.
In that very same week, Lori Haskell, an A.M. Costa Rica reader who lives in Herradura Beach in Puntarenas, reported seeing two young cougars playing near her home.
According to Mrs. Haskell testimony:
"I thought it was two foxes, or something similar. I was annoyed I did not get a better pic for identifying! So, I decided to walk about fifteen feet away and wait a few minutes, I figured if they were friends or siblings, one would cross to be with the friend again. About five minutes later, the creature from the right came back on the trail but facing away from me .
When I got home, showed the pic to Kurt who immediately said "puma". I pulled out my mammal book and looked online, but did not know for sure, so I asked some of my wildlife expert friends who all said 'puma juvenile.'”
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