Luna bites his right ear to sun, wants to play. This, still intimidated by the presence of strangers, only moves away and enters his cage. The two Jaguar puppies, just two and a half months, are learning to recognize their caregivers, who have called the male and “moon” to the female because they affirm that “their personalities are opposite and complementary at the same time.” Both animals were rescued on February 28 while they were transferred by the Federico Basadre road, in the Ucayali region, in the central-east of Peru, in bad sanitary conditions.
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The Jaguars (Panthera onca) are carnivorous felines of the Amazon who are almost threatened, according to the red list of threatened species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Sol and Luna were found in wooden boxes with signs of abuse and malnutrition by the police and the staff of the Forest and Wildlife Management of the Regional Government of Ucayali.
“Its captors hid them in fruit boxes to prevent them from being discovered. We still do not know what their final destination was, but those involved were denounced for the crime of wildlife trafficking,” said forest and wildlife manager of the Regional Government of Ucayali, Franz Tang Jara.
The puppies are in the regional quarantine, where they are being fed, their wounds were cured and they begin to interact with each other. At the close of this note, the male reached 9 kilos and the female, the 10 kilos. Tang Jara specified that Having moved them away from their mother’s youngso it is impossible that they can return to the jungle.
“The puppies will not be able to return to nature because they would die, now they will always live in captivity. Wildlife trafficking affects the biological cycle of these animals by ripping them from their natural habitat,” the manager noted.
In addition to the two Jaguar puppies, the Ucayali regional government rescued a Yaguarundí on March (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) Adult, found in a warehouse in the port of Pucallpa. The cat was also taken to the quarantine and after a medical evaluation was released after four days at kilometer 30 of the Federico Basadre road.
Besides, In the Ucayali region alone, the confiscation of 450 live animals, mainly birds and mammals; 181 kilos of wild meats and fresh and salty reptile eggs, and 560 parts of dissected animals in shells, crafts and other objects.
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So far this year they have already registered the rescue of 34 live animals, being sun and moon now part of the statistics.
Feline trafficking
The jaguar is the third most trafficked feline in the world after the tiger (Panthera tigris), which is found only in the Asian continent, and the lion (Panthera leo), In Africa. In Peru this crime is sanctioned with three to five years in jail if acquired, sells, transports, stored or export: skulls, teeth, skins, leather. However, if the trafficker is identified as part of a criminal organization, penalties reach 11 and 20 years.
Although the sanctions are high, this has not stopped traffic in recent years. According to a study of 2021 of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of wildlife and Flora (CITES), Peru is the country that most sent parts of Jaguar, with 24 % of statistics, followed by Bolivia (14.1 %). In addition, it considers the United States as the most frequent destination of this traffic, with 76.3 %, followed by Germany (5.3 %) and China (4 %).
However, there is a great sub -reproach of these figures. “It is hardly managed to report 10 % or 15 % of cases of traffic of Jaguar species in the country. This is because our Amazon is large and communication is very difficult. In addition, that people do not know how or where to report a traffic case,” he explained to Your Day The regional analyst for the fight against wild feline trafficking in Panthera, Pamela Pastor.
The expert explains that the causes of the Jaguar traffic have changed in recent decades. For example, eIn the 1940s and 1970s, hunting was mainly made for the commercialization of its skin but since 1975 this changed and in recent years the death of the jaguars is related to a bad perception of these animals.
“In rural communities there is a belief that the Jaguar is dangerous, that he eats chickens, cows and can attack man, that is one of the main reasons for his hunt,” Pastor said. “But, in addition, there is a demand for traditional medicine to use its parts. One of the cases not yet studied with ayahuasca ceremonies and how the supposed shamans recommend using parts of Jaguar,” he explained.
As for living animals, they are mainly used to be “pets”, but only when they are puppies because they have not yet developed the hunting instinct, as is the case of sun and moon. Peru has the second largest population in Jaguares with more than 22 200 individuals, after Brazil. The global population of Jaguares is in a negative tendency.
Adequate spaces
A jaguar puppy consumes a kilo of meat daily, while an adult eats between 4 and 6 kilos. As they grow they need more spaces to move and their hunting instincts are emerging, but not being in a free area is impossible to learn to capture other wild animals.
“There is a serious problem in Peru because all rescue centers are deprived and are already full, there are few public spaces. It is a challenge, especially when they make felines rescue due to the cost of food, medicine and care,” said Pamela Pastor.
In Ucayali, the Pucallpa Natural Park, administered by the Regional Government of Ucayali, is the one that houses the animals rescued from wildlife trafficking, but after the pandemic he lost some species. To date there are 47 animals between birds, reptiles and mammals.
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“The appropriate spaces for these animals are in the Park of Legends and the Zoological Park of Huachipa, but it is difficult for them to accept these puppies because the space is busy. Many times they only accept a new animal when another dies. That is, if there is only a free quota. In Peru, public places where the felines rescued are needed,” said Panthera’s expert.
Sol and Luna will stay in Ucayali, an atmosphere for both at the facilities of the Pucallpa Natural Park was adapted, confirmed the Ucayali regional government at the end of this note. They will not be transferred to another region as initially raised. Meanwhile, due to the rainy season and because both puppies still do not know how to climb the trees continue to care for quarantine staff.