Tico's Wild Studio is constantly evolving and has become the crossroad between art, adventure and conservation.
Discover the beauty of a hidden world through the artistic work of Tico, revealing an aspect of animal life otherwise inaccessible to humans. Follow the journey through social networks, exploring the wilderness and looking for targeted species with us. Take part in jaguars conservation by supporting The Golden Shadow project.
Our team is continuously innovating and developing custom jungle gear, as well as building links with local actors in order to run new projects.
Even the rarest animal cannot hide forever, let's dream big, join the ride and have fun along the way!
With more than 500 000 species, on a 20 000 square miles territory (the equivalent of 1∕₃ of Florida or 0.03% of Earth's surface), Costa Rica represents almost 5% of worldwide biodiversity and is considered as the most biologically intense place on Earth.
If Costa Rica is one of a kind, the Osa Peninsula is even more unique. As one of the world's wildest and preserved area, it is an exceptional concentrate of biodiversity. Its primary rainforests host a wide variety of wildlife with shapes and colors defying imagination. A place that has one of the greatest conservation potential in Central America, that alone, represents 2.5% of worldwide biodiversity!
With more than 500 000 species, on a 20 000 square miles territory (the equivalent of 1∕₃ of Florida or 0.03% of Earth's surface), Costa Rica represents almost 5% of worldwide biodiversity and is considered as the most biologically intense place on Earth.
If Costa Rica is one of a kind, the Osa Peninsula is even more unique. As one of the world's wildest and preserved area, it is an exceptional concentrate of biodiversity. Its primary rainforests host a wide variety of wildlife with shapes and colors defying imagination. A place that has one of the greatest conservation potential in Central America, that alone, represents 2.5% of worldwide biodiversity!
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is America's largest wildcat, but due to its elusive behaviour, it remains one of the least known. Excellent climber and swimmer, this powerful cat stays hidden in the rainforest most of the time. Active during both day and night, it uses its spotted fur as a camouflage to stalk its target without being detected. With the most powerful jaw of all carnivores it as a unique hunting technique, piercing its prey's skull killing them instantly.
As an APEX predator it sits on top of the food chain, playing a role of regulator preventing the proliferation of its preys and thus maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Furthermore, it is an “umbrella species”, which means that its needs includes those of many other species. Since its development requires a perfectly healthy environment, protecting the jaguar means protecting the entire ecosystem of which it is part.
The Osa Peninsula, once widely populated by jaguars, was considered one of the best places to observe them. But the privilege of sighting a jaguar directly has become extremely rare. Only a few are subsisting, spotted by their tracks and detected by wildlife monitoring camera traps.
Since colonization and especially during the years 1960-1970 (when an estimated 18,000 were killed yearly for skin trade), jaguars have lost over 46% of their original territory and their numbers have decreased by half, threatening the species, mainly in Central America. Depending on the period and the region, the reasons for that decline differ:
- Direct persecution such as poaching for their skins, trophies, canines, and meat for "medicinal" purposes, but also resale to zoos and private collections, hunting for sport, or cattle protection.
- Indirect factors: transformation and fragmentation of their territory due to deforestation, agriculture, urbanization, genetic weakening due to geographic isolation, as well as hunting of their prey to supply the bush meat market.
Nonetheless, this situation is not irreversible. Slowly, awareness is growing and most of the Osa Peninsula is still covered by pristine rainforest. It is therefore one of the last natural spaces that jaguars could win back, a key zone that would greatly favor the survival of the species in Central America. The preservation of the last jaguars is a major argument justifying the need to create biological corridors between already protected areas, becoming a model of interconnected conservation.
