In February this year, a jaguar walked onto Wagner Durán’s family ranch, located near Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica, and, in an unusual ev

For ranchers in Costa Rica, jaguars and pumas become unexpected allies

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2024-10-09 14:00:05

In February this year, a jaguar walked onto Wagner Durán’s family ranch, located near Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica, and, in an unusual event, killed a calf. This area has the highest density of jaguars in Costa Rica, so it wasn’t unusual for that reason. What made it stand out was that it was the first time something like this had happened in seven years. But Durán says he doesn’t hold any grudges.

In the Lomas Azules community back then, every time a jaguar preyed on a cow it would mean up to $1,000 in losses for the rancher. The environmental authorities were treated as the enemy because they offered no solution, instead prohibiting the hunting of the big cats. “It was decided that you can’t touch the jaguar. What did that do? Make farmers angry and they’d kill the animal [even] faster,” Durán says.

His story is a common one among ranchers in the areas close to where jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) hunt in Costa Rica. However, the situation took a turn with the arrival of a collaborative project between the wildcat conservation NGO Panthera and the Costa Rican environmental authorities. The Unit for the Attention for Conflicts with Felines (UACFel) is a pioneering initiative in Latin America, taking in reports of predation and working on solutions for those affected.