BOLIVIA, July 17, 2024 – A group of coffee producers has filmed an extremely rare small carnivore, the Amazon weasel (Neogale africana), near their shade-grown plots as part of a citizen science monitoring program. This species has never previously been recorded in Bolivia.

In a new article published in the Check List journal of biodiversity data, researchers highlight that this observation represents the southernmost and highest elevation location (1,400 meters above sea level) for the species on record and is only the 24th time the species has ever been registered anywhere. 

To compare the sighting to those of other weasel species, the least weasel (Mustela nivalis) of Eurasia and North America has 78,472 records on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and the long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata) of North America, Central America and South America has 28,655 GBIF records.

The video footage is also the first time the Amazon weasel has been filmed anywhere. Capturing this weasel for the first time is important because it provides scientists and the general public with the first live footage of this poorly understood carnivore.

Eyner Quispe, the coffee producer who filmed the weasel near a natural spring on his farm, said, “I was not sure what this animal was, but I knew it was not common. Biodiversity is an important part of our coffee story and so I filmed it as best I could. It’s a wonderful surprise to find out how important this observation is for Bolivia.”

Nuria Bernal, lead author from the Texas Tech University, said: “This is an amazing example of the value of citizen science with an incredibly valuable audiovisual record for a virtually mythical carnivore from the Amazon basin. As more and more people register their own observations with smart phones and cameras, we are sure that this won’t be the only scientifically noteworthy contribution from citizen scientists in Bolivia.”

Co-author Robert Wallace of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) emphasized, "As soon as I saw the video I knew it was a creature that we can only dream of observing. WCS celebrates the huge importance of citizen science for biodiversity knowledge for which Bolivia is now a recognized world leader, and congratulates our local partners at APCERL for their continued conservation commitment and innovation.

“Bolivia’s Eco de las Aves has been our coffee of choice for a while now,” added Wallace, “and how delightful to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and know that as consumers we are contributing to the conservation of the forests and biodiversity of the Amazon.”

Background of Coffee Producer, APCERL

The coffee producers of APCERL (Asociación de Productores de Café Ecológico Regional Larecaja) committed to shade-grown coffee over a decade ago. With technical support from WCS, they have increased production and improved quality whilst conserving Amazonian piedmont forests and lower Andean montane forests.

Through this partnership, the incomes of 39 families from seven communities have doubled in just four years. Furthermore, with other community-based natural resource producers in the region, APCERL has formed a cooperative, Origen, which has commercialized their award-winning coffee and other products in La Paz and successfully exports their coffee.

The “Eco de las Aves” coffee from APCERL is the only certified bird-friendly coffee in Bolivia. Coffee producers from the Teoponte area in northern La Paz Department, which neighbors the Madidi National Park and Natural Integrated Management Area, have registered 243 bird species within their coffee plots, including several that are threatened—most notably a Critically Endangered Bolivian endemic species, the palkachupa cotinga (Phibalura boliviana).

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