Blog 12.26.2018
I occasionally dream of Jaguars. One of my favorite dreams was seeing people settling down to sleep under a thick canopy of trees. Over our heads a crescent moon rose on the back of a jaguar. The jaguar carried the moon on its back all night until the dawn rose. I felt comforted to know that the jaguar was there every night.
Upon waking I thought sadly of all the beautiful wild cats pacing in their tiny cages in zoos around the world. I wrote stories about jaguars free and imprisoned. By coincidence I later discovered that the national animal of the country where I grew up is the jaguar.
So this blog is good news about jaguars (in 99 good things that happened in 2018 in Future Crunch) and now I will share it with you:
“Mexico said its population of wild jaguars, the largest feline in the Americas, grew by 20% in the past eight years, and 14 Latin American countries signed an agreement to implement a regional conservation program for the big cats through 2030. Phys.org”
and
“Colombia officially expanded the Serranía de Chiribiquete (also known as The Cosmic Village of the Jaguars)to 4.3 million hectares, making it the largest protected tropical rainforest national park in the world. WWF”
What animals have special significance for you?
Here’s good news about tigers and elephants
“Following China’s ban on ivory last year, 90% of Chinese support it, ivory demand has dropped by almost half, and poaching rates are falling in places like Kenya. WWF.”
“The population of wild tigers in Nepal was found to have nearly doubled in the last nine years, thanks to efforts by conservationists and increased funding for protected areas. Independent.”
…and gorillas
In the forests of central Africa, the population of mountain gorillas, one of the world’s most endangered species, was reported to have increased by 25% since 2010, to over 1,000 individuals. Reuters
More good news to come!