Perception and popular culture about the crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) near Tempisque River, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is an endangered species due to habitat loss and illegal hunting. Its population has recovered significantly in the Tempisque River, Costa Rica; nevertheless, they are still vulnerable because their niche and habitat overlap human activities, which causes a human-crocodile conflict worsened by mistaken popular beliefs. We evaluated popular perception and knowledge with 336 surveys in 11 towns of Carrillo, Santa Cruz and Cañas, in Guanacaste. We also tested the relationships among residence, occupation, sex, age and educational grade and perception of danger. The inhabitants believe there is an excess of crocodiles near their towns, and the reptiles are considered dangerous and aggressive. Overall, they know little about the biology of C. acutus, but much about its behavior, conservation status and state protection. To regulate the crocodile population, they consider elimination or relocation necessary (both have different implications). They seem, however, willing to cooperate in management plans. It is important to choose key towns to strengthen existent environmental education programs with contents about the biology of the species, security, and conflict avoidance. In the near future, we recommend the establishment of a management plan to regulate crocodile population in some specific spots within the Tempisque River's Basin. KEY WORDSConservation, Crocodylus acutus, perception and popular culture, Tempisque River. RESUMENEl cocodrilo americano (Crocodylus acutus) es una especie amenazada por la pérdida de hábitat y la caza ilegal. En el río Tempisque, Costa Rica, sus poblaciones se han recuperado considerablemente pero siguen siendo vulnerables porque su nicho y hábitat se traslapan con las actividades humanas, lo que genera un conflicto humano-cocodrilo (CHC) que se agrava por conocimientos populares erróneos. Este trabajo evalúa la percepción y el conocimiento popular sobre los cocodrilos mediante 336 encuestas en 11 pueblos de los cantones Carrillo, Santa Cruz y Cañas de Guanacaste. Además se analizó la relación entre la percepción de peligrosidad de los cocodrilos según el pueblo de residencia, la edad, el sexo, el grado académico y la ocupación de los encuestados. La población considera que en sus pueblos existen demasiados cocodrilos, que son peligrosos y agresivos. En general conocen poco sobre la biología de C. acutus, pero bastante sobre su comportamiento, estado de conservación y protección estatal. Las personas encuestadas creen necesario regular las poblaciones de cocodrilos, sugieren la eliminación o el traslado selectivo (las cuales tienen diversas implicaciones) y parecen dispuestos a cooperar en planes de manejo. Se insta a seleccionar pueblos clave para reforzar los programas de educación ambiental con contenidos sobre la biología de la especie, seguridad y prevención de CHC. A futuro, parece necesario establecer un plan de ma...

La GAM es un área geográfica pequeña que concentra la mayor parte de la población costarricense, pero que no contiene toda la biodiversidad que hace famoso al país. Aquí reviso información sobre serpientes que conviven con humanos en el área. De un total de 142 especies, 73 ocurren en la GAM: 21 especies habitan en hojarasca (inofensivas), dos son especies semi-acuáticas (inofensivas), 16 especies arbóreas (13 inofensivas) y 34 especies terrestres (26 inofensivas). Solo 11 especies representan un peligro real para la salud humana pero, podemos coexistir con ellas en paz.

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Seed dispersal by resident birds in urban riparian forest, Torres river, San José, Costa Rica. Birds are the main seed dispersers in neotropical ecosystems and it is important to understand their role in the natural regeneration of degraded environments. Here, we analyze dispersion by resident birds in two remnants of riverine forest in the urban watershed of the Torres river, San José, Costa Rica. We visited the sites four times per season, in dry, rainy and transition periods. On each visit we set up standard-size mist nets to capture birds, collect their excreta and extract seeds. In total we captured 168 birds from 23 resident species (12 families, five orders). We captured more individuals and species in Dry-Rainy transition, without difference among sites. The Dry-Rainy transition had more total seeds; higher seed capture rate, and a higher seed mean per bird. Resident birds can adapt to different scenarios and their role in seed dispersion should be promoted in urban ecosystems.Key words: Urban birdlife, Urban ecology, Ornithochory, Natural regeneration, Ecological restoration. RESUMEN:Las aves son el principal dispersor de semillas de los ecosistemas neotropicales y es importante entender su papel en la regeneración natural de los ambientes degradados. En este trabajo, analizamos la dispersión de semillas por aves residentes en dos remanentes de bosque ribereño urbano del río Torres, San José, Costa Rica. Visitamos los sitios cuatro veces por época, en época lluviosa, seca y transición seca-lluviosa. En cada visita colocamos redes de niebla de tamaño estándar para capturar aves, recolectar sus excretas y separar las semillas. En total capturamos 168 aves de 23 especies residentes (12 familias, cinco órdenes). Capturamos más individuos y especies en la transición seca-lluviosa, sin diferencia entre los sitios. La transición seca-lluviosa tuvo mayor cantidad total de semillas, mayor promedio de semillas por individuo y tasa de captura de semillas. Las aves residentes pueden adaptarse a diferentes escenarios y su papel en la dispersión de semillas debe promoverse en los ecosistemas urbanos.

Introduction: Snakes suffer persecution by humans for misperception, misinformation, and fear. In addition, snakes are threatened by habitat decline, which leads them to seek new territories, favoring human-snake encounters. In Costa Rica these threats also exist in the inhabitants of the city, even in those with a high academic level. To favor the conservation of snakes, it is necessary to implement environmental education strategies aimed at a specific target audience. One possible tool is the creation and dissemination of educational videos, which increase knowledge and improve decision-making for their conservation. Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of an educational video as a tool to change the perception and knowledge about snakes in adults of high educational level in Costa Rica. Methods: We worked with 340 officials from the UNED headquarters, to whom we had applied an initial diagnosis in 2019. We separated the same participants into two groups: 240 officials received an educational video on snakes from the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) that we generated for them and 100 officials received a journalistic video as a control group. Finally, we evaluate their responses in a comparative way with respect to the previous diagnosis. Results: After observing the respective video, 75% of the officials maintain their perception of snakes and 68% would act in the same way in case of an encounter. However, 51,5% showed improvement in their general knowledge about snakes, showing dependence on the video observed. Conclusions: The educational video improved the general knowledge about snakes, but the environmental education effort has to face a high percentage of disinterest on the part of the population, which is a challenge for the conservation of snakes.