Representatives of Bosque la Primavera joined together with activists from several animal-rescue organizations to liberate deer, raccoons, a lynx and other wild creatures on Monday, March 5, the day before the 32nd anniversary of a federal decree designating the Primavera Forest a Protected Area. The following day, a photo exhibit on the beauty of the forest and its creatures was launched at the Guadalajara Palacio Municipal and the Bosque’s birthday was crowned by a panel discussion on “The Past, Present and Future of the Primavera Forest” at the Guadalajara City Museum.
Buddhists consider the release of captive animals one of the best ways for human beings to gain merit in this life and if this is true, the heavens were surely smiling upon the crowd of animal lovers who, on Monday, crossed the Río Salado and made their way along a rough, dusty track until they reached the very heart of the sprawling oak and pine forest, which lies just west of Guadalajara.
Rangers, veterinarians, animal rescue experts and journalists rode in a caravan of jeeps and trucks, which also carried specially designed cages and crates holding a grey fox, an iguana, a lynx, numerous turtles and snakes, two zenzontle birds, four raccoons and two of ten white-tailed deer, all of which are being released into the wild to celebrate the forest’s anniversary.
Upon reaching a point eight kilometers from the forest’s edge, in a remote area dominated by bizarrely shaped rhyolite rocks and dotted with lumps of shiny black obsidian, the procession came to a halt for the first release, that of a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
“This is one of ten deer which came to us from the Guadalajara Zoo,” said Karina Aguilar of the Forest Management team, “and this is the first time ever that we are liberating an animal fitted with a telemetry collar.” She went on to explain that the collar’s transmitter has a range of about two kilometers and will go on broadcasting for a full year, allowing the park staff to prove or disprove many theories they have about the life of the forest’s animals, in particular regarding the subject of wildlife corridors connecting the Primavera to other woods. Recent plans to build a macrolibramiento (outer city bypass) along the edge of the forest have given rise to considerable controversy among environmentalists worried that the forest will eventually be totally isolated by expressways, a possible death sentence for many wild creatures which need access to a wide swath of territory in order to survive. The release of the zoo’s deer into the Bosque is an example of one way humans can help introduce new blood into the forest animals’ gene pool.
When the door of its specially designed crate was opened, the deer shot forward, ran 50 meters and then began leaping high into the air, flashing its distinctive white tail, which provoked the onlookers to vigorous applause. “The collar is transmitting perfectly,” remarked Primavera vet Edgar Ramirez, holding an antenna above his head as the gamboling deer disappeared into the bush.
Numerous other animals, reptiles and birds were liberated further along the road, culminating in the dramatic release of a lynx received from CIVS (Centro para la Conservación e Investigación de la Vida Silvestre), which specializes in the rescue of abandoned exotic animals and in training them to successfully live in the wild. The lynx, also wearing a telemetry collar, jumped out of its cage, but—instead of dashing away at breakneck speed like the grey fox—leaped on top of a nearby rock and calmly checked out the crowd of onlookers, all of them maintaining a safe distance, before slowly turning and making a dignified exit into a nearby arroyo.
The Primavera Forest covers an area of 36,229 hectares and houses 222 species of fauna, including 136 species of birds. Here you can find armadillos, coyotes, mountain lions, jaguarundis, possums, raccoons, deer and even a few pumas, as revealed by motion-sensitive cameras recently installed.
Human beings, too, live inside the forest and tombs found in the area indicate it was inhabited as far back as 350 B.C. While early man was probably interested in the forest’s abundant deposits of obsidian, after the conquest, the industries that sprang up were carpentry, tanning and hat-making. At the beginning of the 20th century, the forest was under the control of haciendas, particularly Hacienda La Primavera, which produced tequila for a while and then turpentine. In 1980, President López Portillo declared the forest a Protected Area.
Today, Tapatíos are rethinking the role of the Primavera Forest. “The Bosque offers aesthetic, cultural, health and even spiritual values,” says its Director, José Luis Gámez. “I hope people will begin to see the overall worth of this forest, which makes up for some of the values that are lost in an ever-expanding city.”
The color photos on exhibit at the Palacio Municipal (throughout March) were taken by nature photographers Jesús Moreno, Barbara Dye and others. The pictures can be seen any time of the night or day, as they are displayed on the outside walls of the building.