“One of South America’s largest and most important watersheds, the Ibera wetlands suffered massive devastation in February, 2022, when wildfires burned 10 percent of Corrientes province, including 60 percent of Ibera National Park.
“Rewilding, which helps restore natural processes, is an essential tool in helping the wetlands become more resilient in the face of climate catastrophes.
“Key species, like the largest feline of the Americas, play a fundamental role in the structure and functioning of ecosystems; their return restores health and integrity, essential components that help mitigate the global loss of biodiversity, climate change and the appearance of pandemics.
“In Ibera, wildlife watching opportunities also help generate employment through nature-based tourism.”
Kristine Tompkins, president of Tompkins Conservation and U.N. Patron of Protected Areas, said: “I am overjoyed with the news that one of the two original jaguar cubs born at the Ibera breeding project has brand new cubs of her own.
“With jaguars now successfully breeding in the wild, the species is well on its way to recovering.”
Jaguars are found from northern Mexico southwards to northern Argentina, but were once known to inhabit Texas and New Mexico.
Their preferred habitats are usually swamps and wooded regions, but they also live in scrublands and deserts.
Their largest known population exists in the Amazon rainforest.
Threats to the species include habitat loss and fragmentation, trophy hunting, the illegal trade in body parts, and retaliatory killings stemming from the loss of livestock.
