The Camera Trap Project, powered by the eco-friendly Mashpi Lodge hotel, produces the most majestic real-time photographs of creatures living in Ecuador’s Choco Rainforest.
The Mashpi Lodge (Mashpi for short) is owned by Grupo Futuro, an Ecuadorian private company that had a vision to build a luxury hotel and a center for researching wildlife. Think modern-day Jurassic Park vibes, but without the dinosaurs and greedy scientists.
During the lodge’s opening in 2012, the Director of Wildlife at Mashpi, Carlos Gustavo Morochz’s “research” instincts were to scatter his personal cameras around the perimeters of the forest as a way to study the animals. From ocelots to owls, to rare species only living in the forest, the results were all documented in his pictures.
Several years later, the Camera Trap Project has provided Carlos and his team of wildlife experts more than 600,000 photos which have lead to big findings of our most beloved animals.
The photos of the various creatures below also show that the forest is very much at equilibrium and balance. Here are some photos from the Camera Trap Project that were taken in the lush terrains of The Mashpi Lodge, “your home in the clouds.”
Night Vision
It’s impossible for the human eye to see everything. The wildlife instructors use Reconyx night vision cameras to help capture the movements of the many different mammals and reptiles that live in the vast forest.
Top Predator
The Puma is the top predator of the Choco Rainforest. The below photos are of this individual roaming just yards away from The Mashpi Lodge. Carlos (the Director of Wildlife) says he’s seen a few of them already since he started working at Mashpi.
(Photo: The Mashpi Lodge)
The Viper
Viper is known as the Bushmaster (Lachesis achrochorda).
As Carlos explains, “Acrochorda comes from the Greek word acrochordon which means “wart” (“verruga”) and Lachesis in the ancient Greek religion, was the second of the Three Fates, or Moirai: Clotho, Láquesis and Atropos. It is meant to determine your destiny, or thread of life. Láquesis was the apportioner, deciding how much time for life was to be allowed for each person or being.”
Gas Model Method
Every 15 days, dozens of memory cards are collected from the cameras placed at different angles of the forest. This data is then put into the Gas Model, which is a physics theory used to approximate how many “individuals” or creatures could be living in the forest.