Seventy years after being extinct in the area, jaguars have given birth in
a marsh in Argentina.
After a successful rewilding campaign, the jaguars were born in Ibera Park
in humid, lush northern Argentina.
Conservationists were ecstatic when motion-activated video footage from a
wildlife camera showed one of the parents crossing a trail while holding a
youngster in its mouth.
The species, which was considered "near-threatened" by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature, disappeared from the region seven decades
ago.
The recent jaguar newborns signal the return of the region's top predator,
and Ibera Park is one of South America's most important wetlands.
Tompkins Conservation and Fundación Rewilding Argentina issued a joint
statement on Thursday, which Zenger News was able to obtain: "Camera trap
film indicates the birth of the first jaguars (Panthera onca) in the wild
for Rewilding Argentina in the 1.8 million-acre Ibera Park.
Jatobazinho, a Brazilian wild jaguar who had undergone rehabilitation, and
Arami, the first jaguar cub born in 2018, were both reintroduced into the
wild last year.
Sebastian Di Martino, the director of Rewilding Argentina, said: "By
reintroducing extinct species, the rewilding initiative strives to regain
the biological functionality of the wetlands.
"The jaguar has a crucial function to perform as the apex predator."
"Jaguars in Argentina have lost nearly 95% of their native range," the
statement stated.
"Eight jaguars were successfully released into Ibera Park as part of the
jaguar initiative, which began in 2012."
The Ibera wetlands, one of South America's largest and most significant
watersheds, were severely damaged in February 2022 when wildfires destroyed
60% of Ibera National Park and 10% of the Corrientes province.
Rewilding, which promotes the restoration of natural processes, is a
crucial technique for enhancing the wetlands' resistance to climatic
calamities.
The return of key species, like the largest feline of the Americas,
restores health and integrity, which are crucial elements that help reduce
the global loss of biodiversity, climate change, and the emergence of
pandemics. Key species play a fundamental role in the structure and
functioning of ecosystems.
Wildlife viewing options in Ibera contribute to the creation of jobs
through ecotourism.
"I am pleased with the news that one of the two original jaguar cubs born
at the Ibera breeding project has fresh new cubs of her own," said Kristine
Tompkins, president of Tompkins Conservation and U.N. Patron of Protected
Areas.
The jaguar species is on the road to recovery now that it can successfully
procreate in the wild.
Although jaguars are currently only found in northern Mexico and northern
Argentina, Texas and New Mexico were formerly thought to be home to
them.
Although wetlands and forested areas are often their favored habitats, they
may also be found in scrub and desert.
The Amazon jungle is where their biggest known population may be
found.
The species is threatened by trophy hunting, the illicit trafficking in
body parts, habitat degradation and fragmentation, and retaliatory murders
brought on by the loss of cattle.
This story was provided to Newsweek by
Zenger News.