Jaguar conservation - Unit 12

C1 Advanced · Gapped Text · Complete Advanced Workbook, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read an extract from a magazine article about jaguars – a type of panther. Six paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Jaguar conservation

The jaguar’s range – that is the area it travels through – provides more than 53 million people with ecosystem services, including fresh water, commercial fisheries, clean air and crop pollination. In Brazil alone, these crucial services generate $4 billion per year.

In this way, the poachers benefit from the poverty of villagers, who will happily kill jaguars for the large sums of money on offer. Unscrupulous people use community radio stations and public spaces to offer these tempting rewards.

This is a complex issue. Even though agricultural workers can understand the importance of jaguar conservation, they are unlikely to prioritise it over feeding their families. Panthera, the only organisation devoted solely to big cats, is now working alongside other NGOs to promote peaceful land sharing between cattlemen and jaguars.

Another innovative method has been introduced by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) in Argentina. They use sheepdogs, raised from puppyhood alongside the sheep, to guard the livestock. The dogs develop such a strong bond with the sheep that they protect them like family and deter predators.

In fact, the jaguar is soon going to be labelled ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Half of their historic territory has been lost, though in some areas of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina that figure rises to 85%.

Part of this plan is the jaguar corridor project, which seeks to protect jaguars across a 6 million km² range. The aim is to preserve the genetic integrity of the species by offering safe passage to jaguars so they can mate with other populations.

Another tribe, the Olmecs, who flourished in Mexico in the Pre-Christian era, worshipped a deity known as a ‘werejaguar’, a half human and half jaguar supernatural entity. This symbolises the close connection between humans and jaguars throughout history.

Nevertheless, the crucial role of the jaguar in Central and South America is not simply cultural, but practical too. The jaguar is an ‘umbrella species’. Occupying a position at the top of the food chain, it has a positive impact on the entire ecosystem. In a region with a thriving jaguar population, all biodiversity will be healthy. This is because the jaguar’s prey and the forest it needs to be in good condition for the jaguar itself to survive.

However, that country is far from being the only one the jaguar inhabits. In the past, jaguars roamed freely from Argentina to the southern United States. They are now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay, and Panama’s rapid industrial development has created an impossible obstacle, preventing interaction and mating among different populations of jaguars. This clearly impacts on their health and survival as a species.

Reasons for this destruction of habitat are obvious. Increased demand for beef and soya (mostly as animal feed) have led to deforestation. However, it is not just the reduction in their range that has decimated jaguar populations. During the 1940s and 70s, 18,000 jaguars a year were killed for their fur and body parts. While wildlife protection laws have reduced those numbers, jaguars are still killed by ranchers in order to protect their livestock and their own livelihoods.

These experts realise that practical solutions are the key to co-existence. They train farmers in anti-predator husbandry techniques, such as the use of electric fences and enclosures to keep their animals safe overnight when jaguars hunt. Another solution is to place tough water buffalo in with the cattle as a deterrent, and farmers have even been supported to breed stronger ‘battle cattle’ that are more resilient to attack.

In addition to providing such non-lethal solutions to the issue of jaguar attacks, organisations have been working on pan-American initiatives to preserve jaguars across the continent. Jaguar 2030 Roadmap is a joint project of WWF and others to secure 30 priority jaguar conservation landscapes by 2030. Focusing on one species across several countries allows for a more targeted approach.

There are early signs that this intense effort on behalf of this emblematic species is paying off. In Mexico, for example, the jaguar population has doubled since 2002. In Yucatan peninsula, 600 jaguars live in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a green paradise where they are protected. The current joined-up thinking of conservationists working across national borders seems likely to offer even greater protection to jaguars.

The jaguar, or Panthera Onca, is the largest cat in the Americas. The name ‘jaguar’ comes from the Tupi-Guarani word, Yaguara, which means ‘he who kills in one leap’. For thousands of years, the jaguar has had important mythological and cultural significance among indigenous communities. The Mayans associated the jaguar with the afterlife, believing it could move between the living and the dead. ___ Nevertheless, the crucial role of the jaguar in Central and South America is not simply cultural, but practical too. The jaguar is an ‘umbrella species’. Occupying a position at the top of the food chain, it has a positive impact on the entire ecosystem. In a region with a thriving jaguar population, all biodiversity will be healthy. This is because the jaguar’s prey and the forest it needs to be in good condition for the jaguar itself to survive. ___ However, that country is far from being the only one the jaguar inhabits. In the past, jaguars roamed freely from Argentina to the southern United States. They are now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay, and Panama’s rapid industrial development has created an impossible obstacle, preventing interaction and mating among different populations of jaguars. This clearly impacts on their health and survival as a species. ___ Reasons for this destruction of habitat are obvious. Increased demand for beef and soya (mostly as animal feed) have led to deforestation. However, it is not just the reduction in their range that has decimated jaguar populations. During the 1940s and 70s, 18,000 jaguars a year were killed for their fur and body parts. While wildlife protection laws have reduced those numbers, jaguars are still killed by ranchers in order to protect their livestock and their own livelihoods. ___ These experts realise that practical solutions are the key to co-existence. They train farmers in anti-predator husbandry techniques, such as the use of electric fences and enclosures to keep their animals safe overnight when jaguars hunt. Another solution is to place tough water buffalo in with the cattle as a deterrent, and farmers have even been supported to breed stronger ‘battle cattle’ that are more resilient to attack. ___ In addition to providing such non-lethal solutions to the issue of jaguar attacks, organisations have been working on pan-American initiatives to preserve jaguars across the continent. Jaguar 2030 Roadmap is a joint project of WWF and others to secure 30 priority jaguar conservation landscapes by 2030. Focusing on one species across several countries allows for a more targeted approach. ___ There are early signs that this intense effort on behalf of this emblematic species is paying off. In Mexico, for example, the jaguar population has doubled since 2002. In Yucatan peninsula, 600 jaguars live in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a green paradise where they are protected. The current joined-up thinking of conservationists working across national borders seems likely to offer even greater protection to jaguars.

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