The Oncilla is a small spotted cat found from central America to the Central Amazon. In 2013 it was proposed to split the species into two, as they did not interbreed, however I would argue that this should be at the subspecies level. The Southern Oncilla lives in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, while the Northern Oncilla ranges from central America to central Brazil – time will tell if these two cats are subspecies or are distinct enough to be considered different cat species
Great progress is being made in slowing rainforest destruction in Brazil with great falls in the last year. It is true that this rate needs to fall to zero in the near future, but great progress is being.
A lot of this progress is as a result of the end of the Bolsonaro regime, and could swing back should a similar person come to power.
However, what is clear is that if the Amazon reaches a tipping point and starts to dry out, it will rapidly die, and at this point there is unlikely to be enough rain for the regions croplands to remain (the crops will no longer grow as a result of the lack of rain).
It is essential that the rest of the world invests heavily in this region, in order to give a clear alternative to soy and cattle rearing in order to earn a living.
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World maps: explore
This website aims to make it easy for those living with wildlife, and those who would like to see it, to find each other. Where-ever the wildlife, if the local people do not benefit it will not survive. Please note, on some computers these maps can take 10 seconds to load.
Explore the worlds wilds, through the map above (each country contains a list of any wild areas within it – world maps for each fo these can be found at the top of the page -“wild places, “shadow of mankind”, “Hides”, “Future places” & “sightings board”), or the species in the expandable section below. Add your destinations, by clicking on “list your wild”. Scroll down to read our latest wild news.
Jaguars are the only big cat not found on the supercontinent. Dominating much of South America, and before the arrival of humans much of Southern North America
photo credit MarcusObal
Jaguar
Jaguars are the only big cat that is found in the Americas. Superficially looking like a Leopard, it is actually no more closely related to a Leopard, than a Lion or Tiger.
Once (as late as the year 1900) ranging from Southern Argentina- north through the rest of South America, and throughout Mexico and the Southern United states (some 19 million square km) its current range is greatly reduced, see the map below.
A map of Jaguar range. Red is the current range, pink is the range back in 1900. As you can see, it only leaves the Jaguar as the king of the Amazon
Wonderful swimmers, fantastic hunters and strong cats, they were undisputed as the apex or one of the apex predators in every environment in which they lived.
They are known to regularly take livestock where it is possible. Possibly as a result of having only millennia rather than the eons that native animals have, they have not learnt to fear humans and keep their distance as healthy populations of lion leopard and tiger do.
However, there is also a huge draw to see this animal in its native habitat. The easiest way to see Jaguar, is usually from a boat on a river.
As with other species on this site, I hope to add many destinations over the next few years. Below these links will be a list of all articles on Jaguars, and we will add all the destinations and links we have, as we make them below the news section.
From the great Pantanal – Brazil’s area of wetland, to a number of reserves across the amazon rainforest (it is estimated that 57,000 Jaguars still survive in the fragments of the Amazon rainforest that still stand. On top of this, there is still significant jaguar habitat in Mexico and central America. One of these was set up by the late great Alan Rabinowitz, who fought right up to hist death for protecting places like Cookscomb basin reserve in Belize.
As with many other wildlife around the world, travel to see these animals is essential, if we are to give a financial incentive to those who live and work in the country. Get in touch if you work in conservation of this incredible animal, or tourism. Link is at the top of the main page (or click here)
Jaguars declining across much of their entire range. Having disappeared from from almost the entire USA, and significantly depleted in Mexico, the Jaguar is beginning
There is a constant tug of war, between developed countries which are encouraging developing countries to continue to protect their wildernesses, and the developing countries wish to be able to develop – to lift their citizens out of poverty.
In one shot: soy farming at the front, rainforest behind and you can see cattle grazing areas at the back
Both the Amazon and the Congo have been given the status of totally virgin rainforest, without any human impact. What is becoming increasingly clear is that this is not the case.
Instead it is the case, that the communities which lived here -sometimes in large numbers, lived in balance with the environment.
Pre Columbian settlement evidence in the Amazon
Archaeologists have found vast network of settlements in the Columbian Amazon, spanning hundreds or even thousands of square km, consisting of a main settlement with huge platforms, and smaller settlements spread out around. All are linked by causeways, and canals and reservoirs dotted the land to make agriculture possible.
To be sure, these settlements were low density, but they successfully lived in harmony with the rainforest for centuries.
Oddly, while these communities prospered for 1000 years, they disappeared before Columbus arrived, and it is not clear why.
How should this impact work these days? I am not sure. There are no large groups of modern people who have learnt to live in harmony with their environment, but clearly bush people have. Perhaps we need to follow their example – though the current indigenous people of the Amazon do not live in settlements of large size, otherwise we would have know about these centuries ago,
In much of the Amazon rainforest destruction is in order to increase the amount of land that can be farmed.
There is not mass starvation in Brazil, in fact to the contrary most of the crops grown will be sold abroad. Never-the-less if is irrelevant as the land will not be usable for crops for very long. The area will rapidly switch to desert
Great areas are being deforested in order to grow crops.
The problem is, that the rainfall is largely caused by the rainforest. Therefore, by cutting down the rainforest you remove this rainfall.
Not only is rainforest destruction a dangerous thing for the community, but the land will be worthless within a short time of it being deforested.
A total of 8591 square km of rainforest was lost last year (3317 square miles). Joined with changes that Jair Bolsonaro has made which make it easier for squatters to take ownership of the forest, if he wins a second term we are likely to see damage to the Amazon that it may never recover from.
The signs of collapse are getting more and more clear. Fires droughts and land clearances are all pushing the Amazon towards collapse. Yet Jair Bolsonaro is not interested having put his head in the sand. Instead he is busy placating powerful agribusiness lobby and trying to get the global economy to reward his bad behaviour.
Could this become increasingly what Brazil looks like? If it does, how will it feed its growing population?
The blows to forest protection have come fast in the last year. It is unclear how much of the Brazilian population understands how big the threat is that Bolsonaro is ignoring.
Deforestation has leapt 37% over the last 5 years. Large numbers of people have been moving into this park in the hope that Bolsonaro will loosen its protection, and then their land claims will become legal.
Deforestation in this reserve has accelerated dramatically
This is unfortunately the effect that often occurs when a new administration doesn’t care about conservation.
In various moves, the current Brazilian government has encouraged these land seizures by not punishing or indeed legalizing the seizure.
