Jaguar Release Offers a Lifeline to Gran Chaco's Lonely Big Cats

[Judi Lynn]

But what is needed now in this first stage, of course, is a lot of breeding and to increase jaguar numbers.

April 16, 2024 by Mongabay



by Sarah Brown

On March 15, the first female jaguar was released into El Impenetrable National Park in northern Argentina in the hope she will mate with resident males.

Just 10 male jaguars live in Argentina’s Gran Chaco region, with the last confirmed female sighting there 35 years ago, meaning a viable jaguar population is impossible without rewilding efforts.

By increasing numbers in El Impenetrable, rewilding experts aim to bridge Argentina’s disperse jaguar populations and promote genetic diversity between them.

The NGO Rewilding Argentina has been working with local communities to develop an ecotourism-centered economy to boost the chances of the jaguars’ survival.


The lowland forest of El Impenetrable National Park in northern Argentina sprawls across the hot, swampy green of the Gran Chaco biome, home to South America’s largest mammals and thousands of plant species. It’s a critical conservation unit for the protection of one of the planet’s most deforested ecosystems, yet it’s missing an important resident: a female jaguar (Panthera onca).

Two-thirds of the Gran Chaco, which spreads across 650,000 square kilometers (251,000 square miles), are in northern Argentina, where just 10 jaguars remain — all of them male. The last female was spotted there 35 years ago, Sebastián Di Martino, conservation director at the NGO Rewilding Argentina, told Mongabay. “The situation here is urgent,” he said. “The males look for females, but never find one.”

Keraná was rescued in Paraguay as a cub after her mother was killed by hunters. She was released into the El Impenetrable National Park in northern Argentina on March 15. Image by Andi Villarreal / Rewilding Argentina.

Keraná, a female rescued as a cub in Paraguay, is the new beacon of hope for the Argentinian Chaco’s jaguars. On March 15, she was released into El Impenetrable in a joint effort between Rewilding Argentina, the National Parks Administration, and the government of Chaco province. She will soon be joined by a second female, Nalá, in the next few weeks. Rewilding experts say they hope these females will breed with the wild males and help bring the population back from the brink of a regional extinction.

More:
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/jaguar-release-offers-a-lifeline-to-gran-chacos-lonely-big-cats/