This was stated by representatives of the “Human-Feline Coexistence” plan of the Conexión Jaguar Program, led by ISA and Panthera, after seeing images of two adult jaguars crossing in harmony the lands of farmers and ranchers in Simacota, Santander.
It is estimated that there are approximately 15.000 jaguars in Colombia, 86.834 in Brazil and 22.210 in Peru Courtesy of Panthera
Monitoring cameras located in the rural area of Simacota, Santander, captured images of two adult jaguars crossing in harmony the lands of farmers and ranchers in the area.
The images are one of the positive consequences of the pilot plan “Human-Feline Coexistence” of the Conexión Jaguar Program, led by ISA and Panthera.
The objective of this program is to raise awareness and educate communities about the loss of biodiversity and to demonstrate that there can be a healthy coexistence between humans and jaguars.
“Since we started this first pilot in Simacota, Santander, an area close to ISA’s infrastructure in Colombia, there have been no reports of human-feline conflict on the farm where the pilot activities are being implemented; in the initial diagnosis, 11 predatory attacks had been recorded,” explained Valeria Hincapié, project leader in Colombia for the Conexión Jaguar Program.
Retaliation hunting of jaguars is one of the main causes of this feline being on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a “near threatened” species.
The plan has three stages of action: a diagnosis to document, identify and characterize the attacks that have been witnessed in this area; awareness workshops on the importance of the feline for the region’s ecosystems; and the implementation of a ranch in one of the selected farms, which consists of relocating the cattle and reinforcing the pastures with anti-predator electric fencing.
“At Panthera we have supported the implementation of effective anti-predator strategies on 40 ranches in Colombia. It should also be noted that, unlike other species, jaguars tend to avoid encounters with humans. The widespread perception that this is an animal that attacks people is false and has justified its illegal hunting,” said Carlos Valderrama, Panthera’s human-feline coexistence management coordinator.
The expert also explained that when humans expand the agricultural frontier, they occupy the territories inhabited by the jaguar and reduce the amount of wild prey for hunting. Consequently, this big cat can eat cattle that graze in or near the forest and is hunted in retaliation by livestock owners.
It is estimated that there are approximately 15.000 individuals in Colombia, 86.834 in Brazil and 22.210 in Peru. It is also calculated that in the Amazon there are 4,5 jaguars per 100 square kilometers in protected areas and 2,5 in unprotected areas. In Uruguay and El Salvador, they are already extinct.
