Will cattle prevail over jaguars? Cattle farming is causing increased deforestation in Colombia, threatening the survival of the largest Latin American feline. “The danger is twofold. The fragmentation of the territory where jaguars roam is accelerating, and farmers are killing the jaguars, which eat their calves, dogs and chickens,” explained Julio Roberto Del Cairo, a champion of the “jaguar protection corridor,” an initiative aimed at maintaining connectivity between jaguar conservation areas in the department of Guaviare, on the northern edge of the Amazon rainforest.
The highly adaptable animals live in 16 of the countries in South America. In Colombia, they can be found on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, in the foothills of the Andes, on the plains of the Orinoco and, of course, in the vast Amazon jungle. The total population is estimated at 16,000, but their habitat has shrunk by almost 40% over the last century in Colombia, according to a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The survival of an entire ecosystem
Colombia, which is hosting the 16th UN Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) from October 21 to November 1, wants to make jaguar conservation a national cause, as the jaguar is considered an “umbrella species.” “By ensuring the survival of the jaguar, which needs a vast amount of space and occupies the top of the food chain, we make possible the survival of dozens of other species and an entire ecosystem,” continued Del Cairo.
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Claudia Cocuy herds her 15 cattle between the plains and the jungle in the Charras region, five hours along a dirt track from San José, the capital of Guaviare. “I used to be afraid of jaguars, like everyone else here,” she said. “But when I saw photos of the animal taken by a camera trap set up right next to my house, I understood that we and the jaguar live on the same territory and that we had to get along.” She corrected herself: “In fact, it’s us humans who have invaded its territory.” Cocuy, who is the president of Asopronare, a small association of local producers, is a passionate advocate for the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
This project, which was launched four years ago with the help of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the WWF, now encompasses more than 400,000 hectares and involves about 40 community organizations. According to Miguel Mejia, the project’s manager at UNDP, “Only action by the people who live on the land can protect the jaguar – and nature – in the long term.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 14:28:00
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