How the Jaguar, King of the Forest, Might Save Its Ecosystem
WiredThis story originally appeared on Atlas Obscura and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. "Tracking jaguars is all about detective work,” says ecologist Gerardo Ceballos as we trek through the dense forest of Mexico’s Calakmul Biosphere, a protected natural reserve of about 2,700 square miles in the heart of the Yucatán Peninsula. We are followed by biologist Heliot Zarza Villanueva, a jaguar hunter turned conservationist known as Don Pancho, veterinarian Susana Llescas Furter, bloodhound trainer Eliu Campos Hernandez, and one of his trainees, Monica. “Jaguars don’t have the luxury to skin their prey, so they’ll end up spitting out hairballs after they digest them,” Ceballos says. “It’s the true king of the forest,” Campos Hernandez says as we walk back to camp to prepare for the next day’s predawn search.
Discover Related
)
