Colombia: In Colombia, a Successful Jaguar Conservation Program Has a Whiff of Coffee

May 20, 2021 | Antonio José Paz Cardona, Mongabay
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Fires had a devastating effect in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia’s Caribbean region, between 2012 and 2013. At almost the same time, CORPAMAG began to notice an increase in reports of livestock such as cattle, donkeys, mules and lambs being killed. According to small farmers in the area, jaguars were responsible for these attacks, and people began hunting down the big cats to safeguard their livelihoods. This conflict pitted the near-threatened jaguar (Panthera onca) against impoverished farmers whose entire livelihoods depended on no more than two head of cattle each. In addition to this, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a unique ecosystem, full of endemic species and also the northernmost territory of jaguars in South America.