How urbanization threatens wild cats in Brazil
Brazil's urbanization efforts have shrunk the habitat of the country's wild cats. At the Mata Ciliar sanctuary near the city of Sao Paulo, pumas and jaguars are recovering from injuries caused by humans.
Wild diversity
A jaguar rolls in the tall grass of the Mata Ciliar conservation center, located in the vast Mata Atlantica forest in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. There is hardly any other place in the world where there is as much wild cat diversity as here. The sanctuary covers an area the size of 40 football fields and is currently home to 25 pumas and 10 jaguars.
Forest meets urban jungle
Apartment blocks and shopping malls are springing up like mushrooms around the wild cat sanctuary. The refuge is only 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) away from the state capital, Sao Paulo, the largest city in Latin America and nicknamed the "stone jungle." As urbanization in the area expands, the wild cats' habitat is eroding.
Bandaged puma
In addition to wild cats, the sanctuary is also home to monkeys, wild dogs, maned wolves, ocelots and other wild animals recovering from injuries. Barreiro, a 5-year-old puma (pictured above), was caught in a hunting trap with a steel cable. He suffered a deep cut to his hip, and is being treated by sanctuary staff.
Dangerous and endangered
The wild cats are safe at the sanctuary. But things are different in the wild. "Due to the advancement of urbanization into its natural habitat, when the puma moves, it gets lost between roads, gated communities and other human interventions," Jorge Bellix, the director of the sanctuary, told the AFP news agency.
Limited freedom
The reduction of their habitat forces the puma to move closer to human settlements in order to find food. That can include domestic and farm animals, as their natural diet of deer and smaller wild animals is dwindling. But in doing so, big cats risk being run over by cars or electrocuted by security fences.
From predator to prey
Like Barreiro the puma, the animals can get caught in traps used by hunters to cull wild boars but also by residents warding off predators. Cats of prey are also poached for their pelts. "If this continues, we will unfortunately witness the extinction of several [animal] species within a few years," Bellix said.
Back to freedom?
"The situation is critical. The animals of Sao Paulo are losing the war against urbanization," said veterinarian Cristina Harumi, who helped treat Barreiro and hopes that he can be released back into the wild. The puma, which is at the top of the food chain, is considered a bioindicator: its disappearance would be an alarming sign of the extent of environmental destruction.