Bolivian jaguar, other wildlife, good news

From Wildlife Extra:

Jaguar cubs photo shows conservation success in Bolivia

December 2011. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released a dramatic photo of a female jaguar and her two cubs taken near the Isoso Station of the Santa Cruz-Puerto Suarez Gas Pipeline in Kaa Iya National Park in Bolivia. The adult jaguar, nicknamed Kaaiyana, has been seen with her cubs in the area over the last month, and WCS conservationists have confirmed she has been a resident in the vicinity for at least six years.

“Kaaiyana’s tolerance of observers is a testimony to the absence of hunters in this area, and her success as a mother means there is plenty of food for her and her cubs to eat,” said Dr. John Polisar, Coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Jaguar Conservation Program.

Kaa Iya National Park

At more than 13,200 square miles (34,400 square kilometers), Kaa Iya National Park is the largest protected area in Bolivia and safeguards the most expansive and best-conserved dry forest in the world. It is found in a transition zone between Chacoan and Chiquitano dry forest ecosystems and includes unique vegetation and rare wildlife such as giant armadillos, Chacoan titi monkeys, and Chacoan peccaries. The creation of Kaa Iya in 1995 marked the first time in South America that a protected area was established through the initiative of an indigenous group, the Guaraní-Isoceño people.

Gran Chaco Jaguar Conservation Unit

WCS has conducted extensive research in the area and estimates that at least 1,000 jaguars live in the Gran Chaco Jaguar Conservation Unit, a 47,000 square-mile (124,000 square kilometer) area spanning southern Bolivia and northern Paraguay.

Bolivia’s law gives nature equal rights to humans: here.

USA: The Jaguar Returns to the Southwest: here.

First camera-trap photos of the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) from the Chaco of Paraguay: here.