Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports

[Dark Jaguar]

THE JAGUARS OF THE FLOODED AMAZON.

Projeto Iauaretê


Original Article and post: https://www.uol/noticias/especiais/casa-...m#imagem-4

Amazonic Felines surprise researchers and live up to four months a year high up in the trees.

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Published by Bruno Kelly and Maria Clara Pestre from Reuters

In a unique location in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, where the waters flood more than 1 million hectares of forest each year, jaguars can be seen on tree tops, living for about four months up to 15 meters away from the ground.

600 km away from Manaus-Brazil, within the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, researchers from the Iauaretê project witnessed the behavior for the first time in 2013, by seeing a female amazonic jaguar and her cub living in a tree canopy or treetop. During 2016 to 2018 on several visits to that location, jaguars were photographed by Reuters high in the tree branches.

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''This is a very interesting thing, because it shows that the amazon jaguar, even though it is a large animal, it can withstand the flood and feed, breed and raise its cubs and youngsters up on the trees for three to four months of the year. "  -Emiliano Ramalho

The behavior of amazonic jaguars, which can reach almost 2 meters and almost 90 kilograms, is dictated by the floodplain of the floodplain forest, which usually occurs between April and July, and also influencing the way of life of more than 10,000 people living inside the Reserve.

''This is something that, until we started researching the amazon jaguar here, it had never been described'' - Emiliano Ramalho

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The Iauaretê project, whose name means ''True Jaguar'' in Tupi-Guarani, is led by the Mamirauá Institute, an organization linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation that has been studying since 2004 the habits of jaguars to develop the preservation of the species.

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To this end, researchers follow a long process of monitoring the jaguar that begins with trapping, followed by capture and physical analysis of the animal. After evaluation the amazon jaguars are returned to the forest with a radio collar.

The researchers then follow the location signals flying over the forest, or, in periods of flood by entering its maze of trees aboard on small boats with radio antennas.

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Railgler dos Santos, a resident of the Caburini community located within the Mamirauá Reserve, participated in the capture of an Amazonic Jaguar next to the Iauaretê project and claims to have never forgotten what he saw in the middle of the forest.

photo by Bruno Kelly

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Expedição Onça-Pintada

Monitoring has led to the collection of an information base on jaguars in the region, including their presence on trees an unexpected behavior and once the normal act for the species would be to leave the flooded areas all the way to the dry forest areas.


"No one doubted that she climbed a tree, no one doubted that she swam, we already knew it, but that she could live high up in the trees for three to four months of the year was a hard thing to believe "   said researcher Emiliano Ramalho.

For the researcher, the behavior of the jaguar, considered as endangered by the ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) highlights the importance of preserving the floodplain forests.

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"If we want to preserve the species, we need to preserve those environments where the amazonic jaguars has this unique behavior of living in the trees ... maybe it's the great fortress for the jaguars, the most important place for us to preserve jaguars in the Amazon may be the floodplains"  he said.


''Even the moment of sneezing, when I close my eyes, only those black eyes comes. That darkness, but those eyes remain there "   -Railgler dos Santos, resident of the Caburini community, inside Mamirauá Reserve.

From this goal it was created the "Expedição Onça-Pintada" a tourism package that takes up to four people aboard on small boats to observe the predator that is the Symbol of Brazil.

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"We will navigate through the forest until we find the amazonic jaguar. When we get there we will stay for about an hour with the jaguar and then leave it and return to the inn. This process is repeated for three days" said Ramalho adding that the package is carried out only three times a year.

The expedition, which costs 10,000 reais per person, is carried out in conjunction with the lodge Uakari Lodge, managed by residents of the reserve, generating visibility for the preservation of jaguar and income for the communities in the region, which according to Ramalho, has changed the way people see the animal.

"People who live close to the jaguar, in general, have mixed feelings. They think the animal is beautiful, but at the same time they are afraid of it. They admire it, but they are angry because the animal eats their cattles, the pigs, the chickens, the dogs" explained the researcher adding that this case used to lead to the death of jaguars.

''It is not possible today we reach the proposed global goals for global warming and the preservation of the planet if we do not preserve the Amazon"  -Emiliano Ramalho researcher and responsible of the project.

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