Ocelots, monkeys, and anteaters captured by camera traps at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama inspire a new generation of tropical scientists

Glitter was a female ocelot living on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) with her three-month old kitten, Globug, when they were first photographed by a camera trap in 2017. Three months later, Globug and her mother were photographed again. By then Globug had grown considerably. This valuable information is just one example of the data collected during 44 years of a long-term mammal monitoring project that will be soon led by Claudio Monteza, a postdoctoral researcher at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT) in Panama, and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. 

The project was established in 1982 by Jacalyn Giacalone, and Gregory Willis, her husband and partner in research. Giacalone came to BCI to study red-tailed squirrels at the end of the 1970’s. There, she met William E. Glanz, a STRI postdoctoral fellow who was also studying mammals on the island and started using trail transect methodology to monitor mammals in 1978. His work inspired Giacalone to broaden her observations to include other mammals and to continue his long-term mammal monitoring project. 

The first census conducted by Giacalone and Willis consisted of visually recording mammals along 100 km of trail transects. They repeated this census once a year during the dry season and used the data to create a list of animals on the island and to record species abundance and activity. Even though the censuses were performed during both day and night, Giacalone and Willis noticed ocelots and other nocturnal species were not well represented in the data. This motivated Willis to complement their visual monitoring with the establishment of a trail camera trap system he set in 1994. 

Ocelots are important predators in Neotropical ecosystems, but they are very elusive and hard to study. As BCI has been a STRI research station for over 100 years, it provides an ideal environment for monitoring ocelots and other mammals in a hunting-free environment, and quickly, the researchers obtained their first black and white photo, on film, of a female ocelot, who they named Oreja because she had a torn ear. They noticed Oreja also had a particular spot pattern that allowed them to individually identify her and other ocelots. They later created the Cat-A-Log to identify ocelot individuals and their relationships, and especially to trace mom-kitten generations, as they usually appeared together in the pictures. Giacalone identifies individual ocelots using her remarkable recognition skills, a task AI has failed to perform correctly so far, but the project is working on training it for future use.   

Not only is BCI one of the most studied tropical forests in the world and the home to many other long-term monitoring projects including pollen, arthropod and the tree censuses at the 50-hectare Forest Dynamic Plot as part of the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) initiative, but this camera-trapping project is the first of its kind ever maintained over the long-term. It has since been followed by many others and has become a standard technique used in numerous locations beyond BCI. 

Moreover, the use of camera traps opened up the opportunity to explore the life history, home ranges, and interactions of many mammal species. And as technology evolved, the project evolved with it — moving from film and tape-based cameras to digital still cameras and digital camcorders in 2002. In 2008, digital camera traps with infrared imaging and long-life batteries made it possible to create a network of 24 trail cameras recording almost 24 hours a day all year round. 

Since its establishment in 1982, mammal censuses have been performed every year except for 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Giacalone and Willis from travelling to Panama. Back then, Monteza jumped in to help with camera maintenance in the field, as he had been helping with data curation from early years. During the pandemic, Monteza also spent many days digitizing non-digital images from the 90's and early 2000's.  

After 44 years of almost continuous monitoring, Giacalone and Willis, who also produced the first, long-distance science education program at STRI to share their project with schoolchildren in New Jersey and Panama, decided it was time for Monteza to start taking the lead on the project. It will be a gradual process, where Giacalone and Willis will pass the baton but will still be part of the project. 

2026 was Monteza’s first year performing the visual monitoring by himself. “During my very first day, I saw a Northern Tamandua using lianas to move from one tree to another. It felt magical, especially because I am working on a proposal to study how mammals use lianas as pathways.” Monteza plans to continue with the project until he retires, when another researcher can take his place, with the ultimate goal of completing 100 years of mammal monitoring on BCI. 

The project generated vital insights into the 47 non-flying mammal species that live or have visited the island, including monkeys, sloths, anteaters, armadillos, opossums, rodents, kinkajous, cats and many more. Furthermore, the camera-trap system revealed jaguars and pumas visiting the island in 2009, which probably stayed for several months and then swam to other adjacent areas. Other uncommon sightings have been Panamanian night monkeys in 1980 and 2003, manatees in 2018, a coyote in 2023, neotropical river otters on several occasions, among others. 

The project goes beyond recording the abundance of mammals on BCI. It provides key information on the ecological roles of different mammal species as seed dispersers, predators, herbivores and the effects of  variable annual fruiting on mammal populations. The project has generated insights into ocelot ecology, including their longevity, reproduction, diet, predation, social interactions, home ranges, population, latrine use for communication, which Giacalone likes to call pee-mail, and more.   

Now the study of mammal monitoring on BCI has expanded to include camera traps in the forest canopy, allowing researchers to explore the connection between the forest floor and the treetops. This work is being done by STRI and Max Plank Institute of Animal Behavior fellow, Lester Rodríguez, in collaboration with Claudio Monteza.  

The continuity of this long-term mammal monitoring project is crucial to estimate population densities and community dynamics in a natural, protected habitat, which is essential for creating effective conservation and management strategies for threatened species, both on and beyond BCI. With more than four decades of continuous data and a new generation of researchers carrying the work forward, the long‑term mammal monitoring project on BCI stands out as a unique scientific legacy — one that may reach its 100‑year mark by 2082 and will continue to contribute to tropical conservation science. 

About the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, STRI is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. Our mission is to understand tropical biodiversity and its importance to human welfare, to train students to conduct research in the tropics and to promote conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Watch our video, and visit our website, Facebook, X and Instagram for updates.