Once-Infamous "Road Of Death" From La Paz To Las Yungas Now Wildlife Haven Since Bypass Constructed

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In Bolivia, the infamous “Death Road” has become a haven for life. Once the only route north from La Paz, the narrow and treacherous old road to the Yungas claimed an average of 300 lives per year during peak usage. However, since the construction of a safer road in 2007, traffic has dropped 90% and wildlife has crept in, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) published in the journal Ecología en Bolivia.



Scientists placed 35 camera traps along and nearby a 12-kilometer (7.4 mile) stretch of road as well as in the surrounding Cotapata National Park and Natural Integrated Management Area in 2016. The camera traps recorded 16 species of medium and large mammals including the dwarf brocket deer (Mazama chunyi), mountain paca (Cuniculus taczanowskii), oncilla cat (Leopardus tigrinus) and the spectacled or Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus).

“The record of the Andean bear and the dwarf brocket deer was what surprised us the most, because these are two very elusive and difficult to observe species that normally avoid places with human presence,” Guido Ayala, WCS Scientific Research Coordinator and the lead author of the study told Mongabay.

The cameras also captured 94 species of birds such as the endemic Bolivian brush finch (Atlapetes rufinucha), light-crowned spinetail (Cranioleuca albiceps), and rufous faced antpitta (Grallaria erythrotis) and vulnerable species including hooded tinamou (Nothocercus nigrocapillus) and Endangered black and chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori). “The data recorded in this study confirms this trend, showing that wildlife has returned to the area, due to the reduction in vehicle traffic and the presence of humans,” Ayala said.


A puma photographed by camera traps on death road. Image via Ayala & Viscarra Trampas /WCS.


Dwarf brocket deer (Mazama chunyi) have returned to the area surrounding the death road. Image by Niall Corbet via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/bolivias-former-death-road-is-now-a-haven-for-wildlife/