Occasionally they would have to remove squatters from areas that they were protecting. In 1970, George Powell became the first biologist to do extensive work in Monteverde. Poachers exterminated whitetail dear from the Monteverde area before the Preserve was established. Ocelots, macaw, and resplendent quetzals have been killed for sport and food. Plants such as orchids are stolen for collectors, and some, including a small species of palm tree, have been collected for the delicious pulp, or palmetto, found in centers of their stalks.
Squatters are people who settle on a piece of land without owning or renting it.
Squatting is Legal in Costa Rica, to prevent rich people from owning all of the land. To get possession of land, a squatter needed to find a piece pf land, clear it, and make a living on it. By doing that, they would obtain legal rights land even if someone else owned it. The main problem with this is that between 1950 and 1995 the population grew from 860,000 to 3,500,000. Unfortunately, most of the land in Costa Rica has been developed, so the squatters started to move into the rain forests.