People and Jaguars can co-exist – Locals urged to inculcate conservation methods

Mar 29, 2015 News

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Just as how countries change poor habits to make things better, it is the same way wildlife conservationists say that habits have to be changed in Guyana for people and animals- in their natural habitat- to co-exist. Participants

of Panthera Corporation (Guyana) are working to help locals better co-exist with particularly big cats which the charitable organization has devoted it’s time to preserve around the world.
According to the organization the co-existence of people and jaguars constitutes a regular challenge. Jaguars which are indigenous to the Amazon region are not welcome in rural areas and their presence can be intolerable for many people.
“Ironically, this intolerance is caused by the similarity between jaguars and human beings. Jaguars and humans are approximately the same size; we both eat meat, and, therefore, we contend for the same prey species, wild or domestic.”
The most common argument for not wanting to coexist with jaguars is the fact that they feed on what should be exclusively people’s food: domestic cattle. Another similarity between jaguars and humans is that both are formidable predators. Jaguars are admired for their hunting skills, but feared for their ability to defend themselves or attack humans, which very rarely happens.
“In reality, it is us, humans, who persecute and kill the jaguars. And as a result, jaguars are disappearing.” The difficult task of promoting the co-existence of people and jaguars is somewhat accepted, but there is information on how jaguars live and why they come into conflict with people.  There are practical measures to prevent jaguar depredation on livestock and show that the damage caused by jaguars is small when compared to the devastating impact that we have on them.
The indiscriminate, direct killing of jaguars hastens the disappearance of this feline. The persecution of jaguars is usually associated with the predation of domestic stock. “Ranchers will kill – or mandate the killing of – jaguars that simply show up on their properties or are directly associated with losses in their cattle herds. However, the decision between killing the problem jaguar, taking management actions with the herd to solve the problem or simply tolerating the loss, depends on a series of socio-economic and cultural reasons.”
In addition, jaguars are also killed even when they do not threaten cattle. The fear of these cats, the sport and entertainment of the hunt, and/or the demonstration of bravery by confronting a powerful animal, are also reasons why some people kill jaguars.
However, one of the principal threats for jaguars is habitat loss; jaguars are losing the environment in which they prefer to live. The principal habitat of the jaguar is the forest. “Latin American countries for example lose immense areas of tropical forests each year because of deforestation for agriculture and mining. Some countries, like El Salvador, have eliminated so much jaguar habitat that they have no significant populations left.
Brazil, as another example, loses a larger area of tropical forests per year than any other country in the world. The largest portion of that loss occurs in the so called “Arc of Deforestation”, stretching from the state of Pará to the state of Acre, passing through northern Mato Grosso and Rondonia.”
Regulating deforestation is an important factor in conserving jaguar populations, but the loss of habitat continues, as does the loss of jaguars with it.
Jaguars are very active animals that can hunt during day and night, but they show more activity after sundown and before sunrise. Once prey is captured and killed, the jaguar often drags it to a place with closed vegetation. The jaguar usually consumes first the forequarters of large prey, choosing the meat from the neck, chest, shoulders, and ribs, spending several days consuming the same prey. Calves and smaller prey can often be entirely eaten.
Jaguars kill domestic animals. And where they do – especially where there are chronic problems – these areas are strongly associated with areas where natural prey has been diminished by deforestation, hunting and the advance of agriculture and introduced pastures. These activities increase the proximity between jaguars and domestic animals and decrease the potential for jaguars to encounter natural prey.
Some measures to address these issues suggest that persons should not allow hunting on their property; if the cats have sufficient food in the forest they are less likely to bother your cattle. “Don’t shoot any cat that you see. It is possible that the cat is not the cause of the attacks on your cattle. Cats that are injured lose the capacity to eat their natural prey and are forced to seek easier prey (such as cattle or domestic pigs). So, instead of solving a problem by killing cats, you are causing another one.”
Prevent livestock from entering the forest or fenced pastures next to the forest. Most livestock attacks occur in or near these areas. Make water available for your grazing livestock to keep them from getting into the forest in search of mountain streams. Keep the cattle that are most vulnerable, like pregnant cows and calves, far away from the forest and preferably near a house. If it is possible, keep them enclosed at night.
If it is necessary to use pasture lands where problems are occurring, put bulls or large animals (buffaloes) that are less likely to be attacked in these pastures. Keep the animals together at night in a pasture or an enclosure near a house. Keep record of your dead animals and the causes of their deaths.
Bury or burn dead cattle (including those that die either by attack or for any other reason) to prevent cats from finding their corpses and getting used to eating such meat. Concentrate the breeding season to avoid having calves born (which are the most vulnerable to attacks) during the entire year.
Panthera Guyana is working towards introducing more conflict oriented projects to aid with the local problems of conflict between big cats and humans. As the body continues work here, efforts are being made to make public information available through various means.

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