P. 2 - LA PLAYA
MAY / MAYO 2014
WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM
Sharing Panama with Wild Jaguars
threatened by a loss of habitat,
direct hunting and a lack of natural
prey. When jaguars struggle to find
food, they find their way into local
communities and end up eating
domestic livestock. In an effort to
protect their livelihood, ranchers end
up killing the jaguars. Panthera calls
this the rancher-jaguar conflict. They
propose to resolve the conflict by
working with the individual communities on the solution.
D
id you know that Panama is
home to wild jaguars? Maybe
you did, but likely you thought
they only existed in the depths of the
Darién Gap. While jaguars live in the
Darién, like most free-roaming wild
cats, they really go where they
please.
Don’t worry you probably won’t see
one in your backyard anytime soon,
although if you were living in an
indigenous community along the
Caribbean coast, you are likely to be
more familiar with jaguars. These
big cats have been known to range
from Mexico all the way down to
Argentina. This little isthmus is an
integral part of the jaguars’ journey.
The route through Panama goes
from the Amistad International Park
which starts in Costa Rica and
crosses into Panama. From there
the route goes down the Caribbean
coast and into the Darién.
As the country develops and the
canal expands, a major passageway
used by jaguars traveling from
Central to South America is threatened. The good news is that
Panama is working on a solution. In
2013, Panama began a partnership
with Panthera for the protection of
jaguars.
ABOUT US
La Playa Community News is
published monthly in English with
some Spanish. Free copies are
distributed to restaurants, hotels and
popular locations across the beaches
from Punta Chame to Rio Hato and
El Valle.
La Playa Community News is a print
edition of www.playacommunity.com,
a community news, events and
useful
information
portal
that
receives 40,000 + visits a month.
Our office is located at El Rincon del
Panthera is conservation organization for wildcats and their ecosystems. By partnering with scientific
institutions, local communities and
governments, Panthera develops
long-term plans to protect large cats
all over the world. Here in Panama,
Panthera and Panama’s National
Environmental Authority (ANAM),
scientist from the Smithsonian and
local indigenous communities, are
all working together on the Jaguar
Corridor Initiative (JCI), a project
that creates safe pathways for
jaguars.
Of the eighteen Latin American
countries that have jaguar populations thirteen have partnered with
Panthera. Those countries are:
Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua,
Costa
Rica,
Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil,
Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Each of these countries have
agreed to support the Jaguar
Corridor Initiative. By creating safe
and plentiful passageways for
jaguars ranging from Mexico to
Argentina, Panthera is confident a
thriving
jaguar
population
is
possible.
Like in many other countries,
Panama’s jaguar population is
Chef Plaza in Coronado on Roberto
Eisenmann Drive. Hours: Monday –
Friday 10:00am – 4:00 pm.
Phone: 344-7505
Email: [email protected]
facebook.com/Playacommunity
ACERCA DE NOSOTROS
La Playa Community News es
publicado mensualmente en Inglés y
Español. Copias gratis son distribuidas en restaurantes, hoteles y
lugares populares a travéz de las
playas desde Punta Chame hasta
Rio Hato y El Valle.
Melva Olmos is the biologist in
charge of the JCI program here in
Panama. She regularly travels to
remote communities to find solutions
that help jaguars and protect the
interest of ranchers.
Melva told us the first thing she does
when entering a community, is to
ask that community how they feel
about jaguars. Most communities
are not fans of the cats, as they are
feeding off their livestock. However,
many indigenous communities also
allow their animals to roam free.
Melva works to alleviate this conflict
by finding new solutions. She works
with the communities on new ways
to ranch and farm, and to educate
on the jaguar’s ecological importance. By instilling a sense of pride
in the jaguar and providing tactical
solutions to protect livestock,
Panthera nurtures a trail through
Panama for jaguars.
The Jaguar Corridor Initiative is one
example of a movement towards
living in greater awareness with the
planet we live on. We live in one of
the most ecologically diverse
regions in the world, it is our responsibility to not only preserve it, but
also improve it!
For more information on the Jaguar
Corridor Initiative and the work
Panthera is doing to protect jaguars
visit: www.panthera.org.
La Playa Community News es una
edición
impresa
de
www.playacommunity.com, un portal
de noticias comunitarias, eventos e
información útil, recibe más de
40,000 visitas al més
Nuestra oficina está hubicada en La
Plaza Rincon del Chef en Coronado
en la calle Roberto Eisenmann .
Horas: Lunes – Viernes 10:00 am –
4:00 pm.
Teléfono: 344-7505
Correo: [email protected]
facebook.com/Playacommunity
To Advertise / Para Publicidad: [email protected]