Mountain dog: species registered in Gualaquiza

Photographs of the ̈ mountain dog ̈ species were captured in the Medicinal Forest, located in the upper area of ​​Tumbes, Gualaquiza canton, Morona Santiago province. This mammal Speothos venaticus, known as ̈ mountain dog ̈, is in the ̈ Red Book of Mammals of Ecuador ̈ in a vulnerable condition and on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ¨.

The discovery could be made thanks to the installation of cameras along the buffer area of ​​the Runahurco Municipal Reserve and associated farms. The photographs recorded between the months of January-April 2020, together with new studies, confirm the presence of this species throughout the Medicinal Forest, between 1100 meters above sea level, in a primary forest plant formation associated with bodies of water. 

The work was carried out by a group of researchers from the University of Azuay and volunteers from Forest Ink, whose conservation objectives are tourism, territory and development. There is also the contribution of the United Consortium for the development of the Amazon (UNIDA), the Medicinal Forest and local actors. 

Katerina Pekná and Dominika Csepa Csepányiová, volunteers from the Medicinal Forest program and from the Czech Republic, managed to capture a painting of this species that represents the biodiversity of the Gualaquiza canton.

The ̈ bush dog ̈ is distributed throughout Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Guyanas. In Ecuador it lives on the north coast, the Amazon and foothills of the Andes within tropical and subtropical forests.