Deer in the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor
By Jack Ewing, Hacienda Baru
“There used to be red brocket deer everywhere,” exclaimed Don Rafael. years. Hunters killed them all. I remember one day “But I haven’t seen one for when two people from San Isidro came here to hunt. When they crossed the Guabo River at Barú there must’ve been 20 deer in the pasture alongside the road. They got out their rifles and killed every single one of them. With people like that in the world, no wonder the deer are all gone,” he lamented.
The Red Brocket deer (Mazama americana) is the only species of deer native to the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor, and it is possible that it is now locally extinct.
Guide Juan Ramón Segura, saw one on Hacienda Barú in 1989, and biologist Mason Ryan sighted another in 1996. None have been seen since, and I haven’t heard of other sightings in the area.
In 1978, Don Eliécer Castro brought two white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from Guanacaste to his farm in Matapalo. The doe soon gave birth to a spotted fawn. In a few short years, there were more than a dozen, and Don Eliécer released them all.
The population grew amazingly fast and today the descendants of those three deer may be seen in many places between the Barú and Savegre Rivers. I have not heard of any sightings south of the Barú. If you would like to see a puma with a white-tailed deer it has killed,go to YouTube and search for “Puma at the Firestone Center.” This scene was taken with a trail camera at the Firestone Center near Barú.
InFo: Jack Ewing – Hacienda Baru – tel: (506) 2787 0003 – www.haciendabaru.com
