Jaguar is gradually finding its natural habitat in Argentina

AFP, Posted on Saturday, January 01, 2022 at 10:42 am

The five-year-old jaguar, known as the “Jatobazinho”, returned to its natural habitat in northeastern Argentina earlier this year, a further step in reintroducing this endangered species into almost extinct areas.

“The portal is open to him,” said Environmental Foundation Revilding Argentina project head Friday. The male, which weighs 90 kg – the jaguar can weigh up to 110 kg – can now be found in the vast Estoros de Ibera Nature Park, which stretches 12,000 kilometers in northeastern Argentina near Paraguay.

But it can take time for the animal to adapt to its new environment.

“The important thing is that when he goes out, he does it quietly, he explores that area. If he leaves the stress, he can lose his orientation and go anywhere,” said Sebastian AFP de Martino, Argentina’s director of defense. .

“For release, the animals must know how to hunt – we provide them with direct prey – and they must not have human contact”, he lived for two years before being reintroduced into the vast “waiting” ground, its natural habitat. , He continues.

Jaguar feeds on a wide variety of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.

“If the male is a jaguar prey and there is a female, the logic is he should stay in the area”, which is the goal.

Jatopasinho was the eighth jaguar to “return” to the wild in Coriander. In front of him were three female cubs and four cubs.

– Best Swimmer –

After crossing the Paraguay River, the jaguar was collected thin and weak in 2018 in the Pantanal region of Brazil – anit was discovered near a school named after the local tree Jatoba (Gorber).

The Jaguar, the third largest cat in the world after the tiger and lion, is an aboriginal breed in the United States. By the time Europeans arrived in the 15th century, it was estimated that more than 100,000 jaguars lived on the continent, from the semi-deserts of North America to the rainforests of South America.

While it is endemic to the United States, El Salvador, Uruguay, and Chile, the WWF estimates that there are still about 173,000 jaguars in 18 Latin American countries, where it frequently travels through a variety of humid forests. Hills, Savannas, Swamps …

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the jaguar as an “endangered” species on its Red List. The IUCN predicts that the population will “decline by 20 to 25% in three generations, in 21 years”, “which could be a devastating decline”.

This decline is caused by the destruction of habitats by deforestation rather than hunting.

– “Yacouard” –

In Argentina, it is estimated that 200 to 250 specimens live in the northern forests. But they disappeared from the province of Coriander 70 years ago, where Revealing Argentina is struggling to reintroduce them.

But despite the symbolism, its name “Yaguard” of Guarani descent was replaced by Puma with a green and uniform line, a game symbol in Argentina.

The Argentine national rugby team is called “The Boomas” even though the animal that appears on their coat of arms is actually a jaguar.

During a tour of Argentina’s XV in the 1960s, in his articles, he came across a mistake made by a South African journalist who confused two cats.

De Martino analyzes that “this is a kind of loss of identity related to our race”, although the recently formed Argentine women’s rugby team is called “Les Ecuratus”.

Not to mention the “Jaguars”, the men’s rugby franchise that emerged as super rugby (with the provinces of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa).

“We are in the process of restoring both species and identity,” the environmental activist welcomes.