About This Project

The Ridgeline Project, led by The Wild Cat Imaging Project and Las Oncas, studies six threatened wild cat species in Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains. Using remote ridgeline camera traps and engaging local communities, we aim to determine how cats use high-elevation corridors, hypothesizing greater activity along ridgelines due to easier navigation and higher prey availability.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

In Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains, camera-trap surveys routinely record pumas and ocelots, whereas oncilla, margay, jaguar, and jaguarundi remain elusive. The Central American clouded oncilla (Leopardus pardinoides oncilla) is among the rarest and most endangered Neotropical felids, confined to montane cloud forests and poorly understood ecologically(Ramírez-Fernández et al., 2024). Studies from other regions suggest that small felids often segregate in space or time to avoid competition (Di Bitetti et al., 2010; Nagy-Reis et al., 2019), but such dynamics remain undocumented in Central American cloud forests. We hypothesize that wild cats—particularly larger felids—concentrate activity along high-elevation ridgelines, where easier navigation and prey abundance may facilitate movement, whereas the smaller felids will have lower presence, avoiding competition from the larger species.

What is the significance of this project?

This project is significant because it fills a critical gap in our knowledge of Neotropical small cats in high-elevation ecosystems. While pumas and ocelots are commonly documented, the oncilla, margay, jaguar and jaguarundi remain largely unstudied in Costa Rica’s cloud forests. These species are threatened by habitat loss, competition, and climate change, yet almost nothing is known about how they use montane ridgelines or coexist with larger predators. By generating high-resolution video data, this project will provide the first detailed observations of their habitat use and behavior at high elevations. The findings will establish a much-needed baseline for future research and conservation planning, while also producing compelling visual evidence that can engage the public and strengthen efforts to protect one of Mesoamerica’s most biodiverse and vulnerable ecosystems. This project will be the highest elevation wild cat study in Central America.

What are the goals of the project?

The goals of The Ridgeline Project are to document the occurrence of oncilla, margay, jaguar, jaguarundi, puma, and ocelot in high-elevation ridgeline habitats of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains, complementing existing data on puma and ocelot. We aim to characterize how felids utilize montane ridgelines and assess patterns of habitat segregation among species, while using high-resolution video camera traps to record elusive behaviors, activity patterns, and interactions not detectable with standard trail cameras. By establishing foundational data on wild cat ecology in Central American cloud forests, we seek to anticipate how climate change may affect their persistence and produce scientific outputs and compelling visual material that raise awareness and inform conservation strategies for these threatened felids and their fragile habitats.