Argentinien - Der Jaguar ist zurück (360° - GEO Reportage)

The Esteros del Iberá are Argentina's largest wetland. Jaguars once lived among the lagoons and swamps. However, humans have wiped these big cats out through unrestrained hunting. Now, they are to be reintroduced. A jaguar breeding center has been built on a remote island in the swamp. The goal is to breed young jaguars there, which can then be released into the wild. This has never been attempted before, neither in the land of the gauchos nor anywhere else. 360° GEO Reportage visited the station. A film by Cuini Amelio-Ortiz © 2018, License MedienKontor / ARTE Subscribe to wocomoTRAVEL: https://goo.gl/tIk2Qc Follow us on Facebook:   / wocomo   Press release: Jaguars, the largest big cats in South America, have always been popular hunting targets. The indigenous peoples of the region were after their fur, as were the Spanish conquerors, and the cattle ranchers saw them as a threat to their herds. But it wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that the jaguars' habitat was so severely restricted by cattle ranchers that they were considered extinct. Today, the cats are to be reintroduced. Five adult jaguars were brought from captivity to a specially established breeding center in the Esteros del Iberá, Argentina's largest wetland. There, they will raise offspring that will then be released into the wild. The problem is that the three females in particular have deficiencies that make breeding difficult: Tanja is missing a hind leg, which she lost as a cub. Isis is so accustomed to humans that she is afraid of her own kind. And Tobuna, at 17, is almost too old for breeding. The scientists are spoiled for choice. Nevertheless, the project is absolutely essential. Two years and a lot of money were needed to build the enclosure for the jaguars. Four areas of 1,200 square meters each, two for the mothers and their offspring of one and a half hectares, and a vast area of ​​thirty hectares for the phase before final release into the wild. Which animal will the experts led by biologist Maite Rios Noya ultimately choose? And will the mating succeed? If so, wild jaguars could roam the Esteros del Iberá again in two years at the earliest.