In places such as Argentina and Guatemala, jaguar numbers were pushed to the brink of extinction. But in some places, jaguars are finally bouncing back. <\/p>\n
Here are some highlights from Mongabay\u2019s recent jaguar coverage: <\/p>\n
Crochet project helps jaguar numbers double near the Iguaz\u00fa Falls<\/p>\n
In 2009, the jaguar population in Brazil\u2019s Igua\u00e7u National Park crashed to just 11 individuals. Now, more than a decade later, there are at least 105 jaguar individuals<\/a> roaming the Iguaz\u00fa region on the Brazil-Argentina border, contributor Sarah Brown reported. <\/p>\n Community support and a shift in public perceptions about jaguars were vital in the conservation turnaround. The Jaguar Crocheteers project, for example, employs more than a dozen women to crochet jaguar-themed items for sale as part of an awareness campaign. For many local women, the project has become a main source of income.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not often we\u2019re able to connect people from different towns around a shared cause. But all of them are united by the jaguars,\u201d Claudiane Tavares, a coordinator at the Jaguar Crocheteers project, told Mongabay.<\/p>\n Wild jaguar cub born in Argentina\u2019s Gran Chaco after three decades <\/p>\n A 5-month-old jaguar cub<\/a> was spotted along the Bermejo River in northern Argentina\u2019s Gran Chaco region in August. The sighting marks the first known wild-born cub in the region in three decades.<\/p>\n The conservation nonprofit Rewilding Argentina had released the cub\u2019s mother, Nal\u00e1, into the wild one year before, in an effort to reintroduce the species into the ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a wonderful day for me,\u201d said Dar\u00edo Soraire, a guide who first spotted the cub. \u201cI had the incredible luck of seeing Nal\u00e1 with her cub on the banks of the Bermejo River as I was navigating upstream. I saw them and was struck by their beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n Trust and fences are helping save Panama\u2019s jaguars<\/p>\n In Panama\u2019s Dari\u00e9n province, the land bridge connecting Central and South America\u2019s jaguar populations, 395 jaguars were killed from 1989 to 2023, largely by ranchers. Globally, jaguars are\u00a0listed as near threatened, but in Panama, they\u2019re considered critically endangered. <\/p>\n A local project installed solar-powered electric fences around pastures to protect herds and reduce conflict, contributor Marlowe Starling reported<\/a>. As a result, locals say killings have dropped and the mindset around jaguars is shifting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to learn to coexist with nature, not to try to go against it,\u201d Luis Guti\u00e9rrez, one of the ranchers who joined the project, told Mongabay. \u201cIf we destroy nature, it will charge us with the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image: Jaguars in Mexico. Image courtesy of Andrea Reyes\/Jaguars in the Wild Foundation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n