Article content
11 May 2010
The Jaguar Research Centre in Pantanal is credited with supporting a healthy jaguar population within the 270,000-acre Meeting of the Waters State Park, where the feeding of jaguars is strictly forbidden.
Local operator Reef & Rainforests says in the past three years their clients have enjoyed over 200 jaguar sightings.
A company says: "The success in jaguar sightings is due to the lack of jaguar hunting in this protected area, an unusually high density of jaguars and the hard work and dedication of an expert team of guides, boatmen and jaguar spotters."
Brazil’s Panatanal is a 58,000 square mile region of rivers and streams, seasonally flooded grasslands, forests, and a jaguar population of between four and seven thousand.
The jaguar is among the most threatened creatures on the planet and there are thought to be only 50, 000 breeding cats left.
Besides jaguar, the Pantanal also contains an astonishing amount of other wildlife. Commonly encountered species include tapir, giant river otter, capybara, caiman, a number of monkeys and a huge number of birds including hyacinth macaw and nesting jabiru stork.