The number of jaguars identified by Brazilian researchers in the Serra do Mar region of Paraná, in the Atlantic Forest area, has already reached seven. The species, which was once considered extinct in the region, was recorded again by camera traps in September 2018. The findings of researchers from the Grandes Mamíferos da Serra do Mar Program were published in the scientific journal Oryx, published by the British University of Cambridge, last August. After publication, adults with cubs were registered on the site. The seventh individual in the population was sighted between April and October 2022.”[A quantidade total dessa população] people are unaware. What we found is that there are occurrences of jaguars, both males and females, and also cubs. This was after the published study, but how many individuals there are, this is what we are trying to find out from now on”, highlights the researcher and technical coordinator of the Large Mammals Program of Serra do Mar, member of the Network of Specialists in Conservation of the Nature (RECN) and Doctor in Ecology and Conservation, Roberto Fusco. Photographic traps record images of jaguars in the Serra do Mar in Paraná. – Large Mammals of Serra do Mar Program/Fundação Grupo Boticário According to Fusco, the registered jaguars are in an extensive forest area and difficult to access. According to the researcher, the animals were pressured to move to mountainous areas with difficult access, mainly due to hunting, deforestation and palm heart extraction. “In Serra do Mar [paranaense], these animals found refuge in mountainous areas, which are more remote and difficult for humans to access, a factor that may have contributed to these cats going so long without being registered,” he says. According to the researcher, the confirmation of the animals in the region classifies the Serra do Mar forest block in Paraná as a priority area for jaguar conservation in the Atlantic Forest. “Since this region is continuous with another priority area that already exists in Serra do Mar in São Paulo, we propose an expansion of 5,715 square kilometers to the south, which makes the large block of forest in Serra do Mar in Paraná and São Paulo the largest priority area. for jaguar conservation in the Atlantic Forest, totaling 19,262 square kilometers,” says Fusco. Until the discovery of the animals in the region, the area was considered uninhabited by jaguars. “Now the whole strategy changes. The biggest challenge is to guarantee the protection of the species over time and the reduction of threats, which is the hunting pressure on the species and on its prey, such as the paca, the collared peccary, the armadillo, the wild pig, and the deer”. Fusco also points out that, with the increase in the jaguar population in the region, humans and cats will have to live together. “If, by chance, the species increases, which is what we want, we need to work with the issue of human-fauna conflict, to prevent people from killing the jaguar precisely out of fear, intolerance, or retaliation, in the case of a jaguar preying on a domestic animal on a rural property.” Rediscovery The process of rediscovery of the jaguar in the region began in 2011, with the installation of camera traps in some specific areas of Serra do Mar in Paraná, however, no individual was recorded. Local residents, however, reported sightings of animals in remote areas to the researchers. “From then on we began to interview residents, we conducted more than 230 interviews throughout the Serra do Mar region to seek information” , says the researcher. “We had a lot of help from local residents to access these remote areas, and we installed camera traps. Then yes, in some of these points, we obtained the record jaguar istrum. It was a male and a female together. And, from then on, we monitored it, and started to enter other areas as well”. The Serra do Mar Large Mammals Program is supported by the Boticário Group Foundation for Nature Protection and WWF-Brasil.
Agência Brasil
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