Brazil scientists test frozen jaguar semen to help species

JUNDIAI, Brazil — Brazilian and American scientists on Thursday tranquilized a wild-born female jaguar now living in a protected area in Sao Paulo state. Scientists say frozen semen would be easy to transport, and so help ensure genetic diversity of jaguars whose populations are increasingly fragmented by habitat destruction, according to Lindsey Vansandt, a theriogenologist — a specialist in veterinary reproductive medicine — at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Wildlife experts from the Cincinnati Zoo, the Federal University of Mato Grosso and the environmental organization Mata Ciliar have for years developed their insemination program for the Western Hemisphere’s largest feline. “They are being killed before we even get to treat them, so something has to be done.” This year, a study published by wild cat conservation group Panthera, the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul and partners estimated that almost 1,500 jaguars were killed or displaced by fire and habitat loss in Brazil’s Amazon from 2016 to 2019. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List classifies jaguars as “near threatened” — a grade above vulnerable — though their population is on the decline and their habitat “severely fragmented.” Bianca was still a cub in the Amazon when she was rescued and delivered to Mata Ciliar.