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Field Diary: When The Dry Forest Sees Rain
Welcome to our first Field Diary where we’ll share a firsthand look at what it’s like to monitor bears in the field.
Behind every field day is a story: the unexpected moments, the close calls, the new discoveries and everything in between.
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January to March is rainy season across Peru, and northern Peru’s equatorial dry forest is especially vulnerable when seasonal rain occurs. The long dry season leaves the landscape unable to absorb sudden, heavy downpours and conditions can change fast.
Working in this ecosystem, our team must be ready to adapt quickly.
They had been camped out in Calicantro (the land SBC purchased to protect a vital feeding area) for weeks waiting to fit more GPS collars on bears. As the days went on, the weather worsened, but a little bit of rain wasn’t going to dampen their spirits or their dedication.
What unfolded was a story about the unpredictability of nature.
This is the dry river bed before the downpour 
Campsite conditions in the rain “Every day we held onto the hope that the weather would improve and we could successfully collar a bear,” recalls Zaida Aguinaga, SBC’s veterinarian. “The day we decided to evacuate was quite intense. It rained heavily for about 30 minutes. That was enough to cause streams to overflow and the river, which had been completely dry that morning, to suddenly swell with a raging current.”
Click to see what our team witnessed after just half an hour of rain.
With conditions quickly deteriorating, the team faced a difficult call.
The need to fit GPS collars on more bears to understand their habitat use is urgent in the face of growing threats from human wildlife conflict and deforestation. But unrelenting rain meant they risked becoming isolated. Safety had to come first.
“Although it was very difficult, we decided to retreat, prioritizing the safety of our team. I’m sorry we didn’t achieve our goal, but sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. Nature and bears are unpredictable.”
Our team plans to return to Calicantro soon because every field trip moves conservation action forward.
This is what it takes for long-term protection of bears, and thanks to your support SBC will keep showing up.
