Jaguars are bouncing back in the national parks on both sides of the Iguazu River that separates Argentina and Brazil.
The Green Corridor is a strip of protected lands that links the two South American nations and is home to a severely threatened jaguar population. Where once hundreds of jaguars roamed, the population dwindled to a fraction of that number. At one point, there were only 11 jaguars left in Brazil's Iguaçu National Park, per Mongabay.
The depletion was caused by habitat destruction and the conflict with the ranchers behind the land clearances. Thanks to cross-border collaboration and the tireless work of local activists, the jaguar population has more than doubled in the last decade. The importance of jaguars to the area's biodiversity can hardly be overstated.
Jaguars are found in 19 countries, including the United States, but the largest population by far is found in Brazil. About half of all jaguars stalk the rainforests of the Amazon.
These magnificent felines are the third-largest cats in the world after lions and tigers. They are larger and more muscular than leopards, and their fur pattern is slightly different, with a spot in the middle. They are nocturnal hunters who use their exceptionally powerful jaws to take down a wide variety of prey. As National Geographic notes, they are excellent swimmers and have even been known to hunt caimans.
As apex predators, they act as an umbrella species, meaning their survival sustains the existence of dozens of others. They maintain the overall health of their habitat by controlling the population of other species.
Yara Barros, executive coordinator of the Jaguars of Iguaco project, said, "Where there are jaguars, there's life."
The work of activists like Yara Barros is vital and takes different forms. These include educating locals to mitigate conflicts with the animals and to "turn fear into fascination," as well as putting pressure on local politicians to protect the jaguars' habitats.
The success of reviving jaguars underlines the importance of local climate action. Often, the most effective efforts begin at home. Rewilding your yard probably won't attract large feline visitors, but it will support pollinators.
For the jaguars of the Green Corridor, the work continues, as Barros told Mongabay, "We want people to stop seeing them as just big cats and start seeing them as a magnificent species that just wants to exist."
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