The jaguar is the least threatened of the big wild cats in the Panthera genus. Genetic research shows that despite a burgeoning human population and attendant habitat destruction thoroughout its range from Mexico to Argentina, the jaguar has managed to maintain its genetic integrity. There are no jaguar subspecies isolated on islands of suitable habitat as mountain lions exist in the United States. Interbreeding between populations is still occurring, so there is only one jaguar species. For this very reason, noted cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz is advocating a jaguar corridor that will allow the cat once revered by indegenous people as a god to continue to disperse across a human-altered landscape as it has done since migrating from Asia during the Pleistocene. The corridor would cover 18 countires. Dr. Rabinowitz's conservation organization Panthera has already signed agreements with six jaguar-range nations. These nations include Panama and Nicaragua where inter-ocean canals and proposed canals threaten the viability of the corridor. The jaguar is most vulnerable at the edges of its range in northern Mexico and Argentina. Without direct intervention it is unlikely it will recolonize the southwestern United States in the opinion of Dr. Rabinowitiz, but he finds that although people who live with the jaguar no longer acribe to animistic beliefs of the past they still respect the power, stealth, and lethality of the Americas' largest feline carnivore. It is this status as cultural icon and bold conservation action like the Jaguar Corridor Initiative that he hopes will insure Panthera onca's future. Monday, December 01, 2014
B'alam, Once A God
The jaguar is the least threatened of the big wild cats in the Panthera genus. Genetic research shows that despite a burgeoning human population and attendant habitat destruction thoroughout its range from Mexico to Argentina, the jaguar has managed to maintain its genetic integrity. There are no jaguar subspecies isolated on islands of suitable habitat as mountain lions exist in the United States. Interbreeding between populations is still occurring, so there is only one jaguar species. For this very reason, noted cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz is advocating a jaguar corridor that will allow the cat once revered by indegenous people as a god to continue to disperse across a human-altered landscape as it has done since migrating from Asia during the Pleistocene. The corridor would cover 18 countires. Dr. Rabinowitz's conservation organization Panthera has already signed agreements with six jaguar-range nations. These nations include Panama and Nicaragua where inter-ocean canals and proposed canals threaten the viability of the corridor. The jaguar is most vulnerable at the edges of its range in northern Mexico and Argentina. Without direct intervention it is unlikely it will recolonize the southwestern United States in the opinion of Dr. Rabinowitiz, but he finds that although people who live with the jaguar no longer acribe to animistic beliefs of the past they still respect the power, stealth, and lethality of the Americas' largest feline carnivore. It is this status as cultural icon and bold conservation action like the Jaguar Corridor Initiative that he hopes will insure Panthera onca's future.