Bigcats News

[Dark Jaguar]

Jaguar threatened by flooding is rescued in the Amazon.


Iberê Thenório from Globo Amazônia, São Paulo

June 3rd 2009

http://g1.globo.com/Amazonia/0,,MUL11803...52,00.html



The wooden cage was being invaded by the waters the animal was injured and malnourished.

It was close the female jaguar named Janaína didn't drown in the floods of the Solimões River in the Amazon. She lived in a small wooden cage in the middle of a flooded area, and was only rescued when the water was already wetting her feet.

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The jaguar was created by a river dweller inside the Mamirauá reserve. At the age of five and weighing only 35 kilos - for an animal of this age, the ideal would be to have between 50 and 60 kilos - she was fed with fish. "What's recommended is that a jaguar to eat about two kilos of red meat per day" explains Paulo Correa, the reserve's manager.

The story told by the residents of the community of Bate Papo where Janaína lived was that she had been abandoned by her mother. When she was about six months old, she was caged in a wooden crate and stayed there until last Sunday (31), when she was rescued.


 Aloof animal.

According to the Mamirauá Institute which helps the government take care of the reserve the only person who could get close to the jaguar was its owner who died in August 2008. Since the animal was aloof, the owner's father decided to give it to Ibama.

 For over four years Janaína lived in an improvised wooden box. (Photo: Nex Archive/Disclosure)

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After the rescue, Janaína was sent to the Army brigade in Tefé, where she is being treated. When she is well, she will make a long trip to the municipal zoo Parque do Sabiá in Uberlândia (MG) where she will gain a permanent home.



Mamirauá residents say the animal was abandoned by its mother. Experts warn that jaguars are not pets, and require special care to be raised in captivity. (Photo: Nex Archive/Dissemination)

*This image is copyright of its original author

 The rescue was carried out by the Amazonas Environment Secretariat, with authorization from Ibama and support from the Mamirauá Institute and the Armed Forces. The institutes will receive help from the NGO NEX, which specializes in cat conservation. Reply