Corcovado National Park on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula boasts species similar to those of the Amazon rainforest and is considered one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. At first glance, the park seems to host a healthy, symbiotic relationship between man and nature. But looks can be deceiving. Corcovado, which occupies approximately half of the 250,000-acre (100,000-ha) peninsula, has for decades been a site of conflict. Illegal gold miners, loggers and poachers have wreaked havoc on its delicate ecosystem, causing habitat fragmentation and destruction that has reduced animal populations to alarming levels. The population of jaguars [Panthera onca] in Corcovado has reached an all-time low. “A decade ago, we had 200 individuals in the park,” says Roberval Almeida, a jaguar... [Log in to read more]