Farmers from a small coffee collective close to Parque Internacional La Amistad remind each other (and visitors) to come off the mountain before dark – because of possible jaguar encounters.
Café Britt has partnered with the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica Conservation and Wildlife Management International Institute (ICOMVIS) in a remarkable new “Programa Jaguar”, destined to help save the endangered Costa Rican jaguar. Café Britt has created a new line of gourmet coffee “Honoring the Life of Jaguars in Costa Rica,” and proceeds go towards helping to track and preserve the native jaguar population.

Jaguars are an endangered species in Costa Rica. Their numbers are diminishing due to losing their habitats because of deforestation and human interference. Jaguars need vast amounts of land to roam to hunt, and live their preferred solitary nocturnal lifestyles. They are the largest feline in Costa Rica, and the largest Central American carnivore. The average adult male weighs between 141-220 lbs., females between 99-176 lbs. They are spectacularly beautiful animals.

In a year, the average Costa Rican jaguar eats 53 white-tailed deer, 18 peccaries, 40 coatis, 25 armadillos, 55 ctenosaurs (spiny tail iguanas), and finishes off anything another animal might be eating at the time the jaguar shows up. They eat the whole animal – even the ribs – making it difficult for scientists to study their eating habits from what is left after a meal.
To track jaguar movements, food consumption, mating habits, and interactions with other animals, Universidad Nacional has set up a trap camera project which began with ten cameras and is now up to 80 cameras on 13 properties. The goal is to set up 100-200 cameras in the near future in the two areas which are known for jaguar activity: Parque Nacional Corcovado and Parque Internacional La Amistad.

The word jaguar comes from the indigenous word “yaguara”, meaning ‘pouncing killer’, and a handsome portrait of a jaguar graces the bag of Café Britt’s new Merito Jaguar Blend. The coffee is grown near jaguar territory, close to Parque La Amistad. Farmers say jaguar encounters are rare, but remain cautious nonetheless, especially at night.
Merito Jaguar Blend is processed by hand, using traditional methods, and is described as a “medium roast blend offering a unique dark chocolate and sweet caramel flavor with well-balanced floral and wooden notes.” Yum.
Café Britt is a Costa Rican company that produces gourmet coffee, fine chocolates, and specialty gift items. Headquartered in Heredia, they are now making their coffees and goodies available throughout Costa Rica, and more recently in other Central American countries. Café Britt was founded in 1985 by an American coffee broker from New York City, Steve Aronson, who is credited with overcoming the tradition in Costa Rica of exporting all their high quality coffees to Europe and USA, while leaving locals to drink mediocre leftovers.

Café Britt has elevated local coffee quality to gourmet, and helped put Costa Rica on the map as a coffee destination with their coffee tours and online coffee sales.
Let’s hope Café Britt can help put the jaguar back on the map in Costa Rica, and help draw international attention to the plight of this iconic and majestic animal.