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1. First jaguars born in the Iberá National Park in Argentina in over a century!

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 13th Jun 2018

   There’s great news for jaguars in Argentina.  Two jaguar cubs have been born – the first to be born from the Tompkins Conservation’s Jaguar Reintroduction Programme and the first jaguars to be born in decades in the region. So how did this come about? Back in 1983, 3.2 million acres was established - the Iberá Natural Reserve in Corrientes province, North East Argentina.  It created a tremendous opportunity for jaguar restoration. And the Conservation Land Trust (CLT) was established there;   it is ecologically restoring 370,000 acres of former cattle ranches to establish Argentina’s largest national park inside the larger Iberá reserve. And CLT started a programme to reintroduce those large mammals that became extirpated inside Iberá during the XXth century.     After re-establishing the presence of giant anteaters and pampas deer there, jaguars are next.  The Tompkins Conservation team in Argentina consists of vets and scientists, community stakeholders and policy makers – and they’ve all collaborated with the goal of breeding a generation of jaguars that could be released into their natural habitat and survive in the wild on their own. There are about 200 individuals in the wild in Argentina today, and about 15,000 jaguars roam the wild worldwide. The goal is to restore a stable 100 jaguar population to Iberá National Park – these jaguar cubs are a great start.  For more information on this Jaguar programme, click here

    

2. Snow Leopard Trust says thank you

   Posted on 10:00pm Tuesday 1st May 2018

   The Snow Leopard Trust works to protect this endangered cat through community-based conservation projects. The Snow Leopard Trust have dedicated 1 May 2018 as a Spot-tacular!   It’s an online day to thanking its supporters and recognising them as an integral part of their team. To celebrate, they are sharing their annual Impact Report.  The support the Trust’s supporters have provided have meant that….. 400 women earned vital income in 2017 through the Snow Leopard Enterprises conservation handicrafts programme 100 families followed sustainable livestock herding practices.  This is a part of a new Snow Leopard Friendly Cashmere programme 11,600 livestock were insured through the community run Livestock Insurance Programmes.  This gives herders compensation for livestock losses There’s more information here but it’s great to hear from a charity of the impact support has.  Visit the Snow Leopard Trust’s website to see how you can make a difference to these magnificent animals here. Spring into Action The Snow Leopard Trust  is currently working to raise $60,000 to expand their programmes and they are running appeals for a couple of projects: One to support wildlife rangers - Help equip and pay two rangers who patrol the Shamshy Wildlife Sanctuary in Kyrgyzstan to prevent illegal hunting and monitor wildlife populations Counting the cats – they are looking to come up with a solid estimate of the snow leopard population in Himachal Pradesh, one of five Indian states which have snow leopards Adopt a Snow Leopard

    

3. African Parks report 3 successes for big cats

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 6th Mar 2018

   There’s an awful lot of bad news about big cats around at the moment; they are being hunted for their skins, claws, bones and other parts; killed to prevent human-wildlife conflict, and their habitats are increasingly fragmented and lost. So it’s great to hear from African Parks that there are some hopeful signs across the continent for these majestic animals. Lions are being restored to Malawi In 2012, African Parks reintroduced lions to the Majete Wildlife Reserve.  They secured the park and brought back key species, including prey populations.  The lions have formed a small but growing pride to such an extent that African Parks have moved the first two of 10 lions to Liwonde National Park – the first time lions have been there for at least 4 years! New cheetah population doubles in less than a year In 2017, African Parks reintroduced cheetahs to Liwonde National Park, also in Malawi.  They’d been absent for 100 years.  Several females have had cubs, so increasing their numbers in just a few months since their arrival. Lion numbers grow in Rwanda Lions were eradicated by refugees coming back to Rwanda after the genocide, so they had been absent for 20 years.   African Parks reintroduced 7 lions to the Akagera National Park.   With the space to thrive, lions have nearly tripled, and the park is now a real wildlife gem.  Tourism is flourishing with over 36,000 annual visitors to the park, bringing $1.3 million in tourism revenue.  This is reinvested in the surrounding areas. Restoring and protecting the big cat in Africa’s wild places does a number of things: It maintains vital ecological processes It gives tourism a boost Tourism gives much needed benefits to the local communities and revenue to the region Get involved You can help African Parks continue to protect Africa’s big cats and ensure they have the space, prey and safety they need to breed and thrive.    Donate here

    

4. India starts world's largest tiger census

   Posted on 8:00pm Thursday 8th Feb 2018

   India is roaring off to conduct a tiger census which apparently is the largest survey of wildlife in the world.   The tiger study is done every 4 years, invovling a whopping 38,000 forestry officials and zoologists.  They cover an amazing 155,000 square miles of terrain.  And 14,000 camera traps across 18 states form a vital part of the effort.  India is home to about 70% of the world's wild tiger population.  For the first time, ground staff are being co-ordinated with a mobile app called M-STrIPES.   It records the staff's path through the forest and helps upload geo-tapped pictures into a central database.  So it will make the whole exercise faster and more accurate.   In 2006, the first census recorded 1,411 tigers;   by 2010 this had risen to 1,706;  by 2014, tiger numbers had gone up again to 2,226.  What's helped this rise?   Tougher anti-poaching laws, new conservation initiatives and improved counting techniques.   The 2018 census will last for several months, and also count other large cats.   In 2014, 11,000 leopards were counted by the census.   It gets more exciting:   the 2018 census will extend beyond Indian territory to try to avoid doulbe counting big cats that cross borders with Bhutan, Napal and Bangladesh.   It should also help establish the territorial spread of the animals in the sub-continent.   The whole process is being overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India.  You can find out more about the 2014 results here Can't wait to see the results!  Tigers Forever: Saving the World's Most Endangered Big Cat from Amazon

    

5. Good news from Mexico - 10,000 acres saved thanks to Buy an Acre scheme

   Posted on 7:00pm Tuesday 5th Dec 2017

   There's good news for 10,000 acres in Mexico.  They've been saved by supporters of the World Land Trust. Acre by acre, the supporters and Buy an Acre donors have saved the forest in Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. The World Land Trust and Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda have worked together for 10 years to protect the range of forest habitatws in Sierra Gorda. The area is home to 100 mammal species, including Black Bear, Jaguar, Neotropical Otter and Puma.  It's also home to 339 speices of birds such as Military Macaws and Great Curassow. Protecting the world's forests mean that we will have water, oxygen, climate regulation and beautiful landscapes to enjoy.  We are giving land back to the species who live there. "Walking through the reserves we have made is like travelling back in time, back to when Mexican forests were ruled by the jaguar and filled with species we consider rare today." Roberto Pedraza Rulz, GESG This success is increasing the amount of land within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve that is actually under private proteciton and management by conservationists.  GESG has focused their attention on the most important and threatened areas to create a network of privately protected areas in the eastern part of the reserve. The success is thanks to the suppoters of Buy an Acre, and grand funding and generous corporate supporters such as Puro Fairtrade Coffee.  And work continues to protect the area.   Sierra Gorda's habitats include Cloud Forests, Conifer Forests, Oak Forests, Tropical Forests and Riparian Forests.  Click here to visit the World Land Trust