Latam Eco Review: Twilight for Darwin's foxes, nightlife for jaguarundis
by Mongabay.com on 15 February 2019
Caught on camera: Unexpected nightlife of jaguarundi in Peru
They were following spectacled bears in northern Peru, but at night camera traps caught species they never expected: jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), lowland paca (Cuniculus paca), oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) and the white-winged guan (Penelope albipennis). While archaeologists have found evidence that jaguarundis once inhabited the region thousands of years ago, they are rarely seen today. The Spectacled Bears Conservation Society placed the camera traps in the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge to make the case for a wildlife corridor.
A rare sighting of a jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) in northern Peru. Image courtesy of Spectacled Bears Conservation Peru.
‘They are killing it’: Colombia’s Hidroituango dam diverts Cauca River
“It’s a river massacre; they are killing it,” said Isabel Cristina Zuleta, leader of the Living Rivers Movement of Antioquia, about the latest river diversion from construction of the Hidroituango dam, Colombia’s largest hydropower project. Communities downstream of the project believe the company’s decision to close a gate ahead of schedule will kill more fish and erode river banks. “The company doesn’t care about us, never mind the river or wildlife species. It is horrible what the authorities are allowing it to do,” Zuleta said.
Hidroituango project during the closing of the second gate. Image courtesy of Medellin Public Utility.
Boom to Bust: Promise of palm oil profits leaves Chiapas thirsty and hungry
The palm oil boom in Chiapas, Mexico, didn’t last long. While impoverished communities first welcomed the first plantations, now they live in drought and hunger. One researcher described famine conditions among some 4,800 villagers, most of them Tseltal and Chol indigenous peoples, due to the receding water table and declining food harvests as a result of oil palm expansion.
The 640 square kilometers (247 square miles) of fields in Chiapas comprise 70 percent of Mexico’s total oil palm cultivation. Image by Rodrigo Soberanes.
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/latam-eco-review-twilight-for-darwins-foxes-nightlife-for-jaguarundis/
