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The yellow-spotted river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) plays ecological roles in the Amazonian aquatic ecosystem and has cultural and economic significance for indigenous peoples. Because spatial ecology and movement data are nonexistent for this species, we radio tracked 63 individuals in the Napo River between August 2015 and February 2017. Mean linear range size was 16.2 km (n = 31) and mean home range size was 5.2 km2 (n = 27). Our results are the first range size estimates for P. unifilis and suggest that the species could be treated as a short-distance facultative migrant with local seasonal movements.

Llanganates National Park (LNP) was created in the Andes of Ecuador with the goal of protecting the biodiverse biota of the Napo and Pastaza river watersheds. Data on richness and abundance of the mammal community in this park are scarce. From February to August 2016 we installed 58 camera-trap stations along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 2000 to 4000 m. With a sampling effort of 2320 trap-nights, we recorded 2034 pictures of 13 species of large native mammals, 10 of which are included in Ecuador’s Red List of Endangered Mammal Species. Relative abundance ranged from 0.17 to 3.58 photos/100 trap-nights. Our results are similar to those of other protected areas in the Ecuadorian Andes. During field work, we found evidence of uncontrolled and threating activities for conservation. There is an urgent need to strengthen patrol and law enforcement in the park to reduce human impacts on wildlife and habitat.

I here evaluate the conservation status of 64 species of diurnal raptors in Venezuela based on extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) derived from geomatic-based geographic distribution modeling and gap analysis. I modeled the geographic distribution of raptor species to quantify distribution areas using the maximum entropy modeling techniques with nine environmental variables that were believed to influence the geographic distribution of raptors. The EOO and AOO were used to reevaluate the conservation status of diurnal raptors in Venezuela, applying Criteria B of the IUCN Red List. Furthermore, a gap analysis was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of strictly protected areas (SPA) in the conservation of birds of prey. EOO ranged from 10,423 km2 to 907,223 km2 and AOO values ranged from 6566 km2 to 903,193 km2; four species met the B1 criterion and are qualified to be reclassified. The gap analysis revealed that, on average, 20% and 24% of species’ EOO and AOO, respectively,...