Cub born in February in an Argentine Chaco jaguar-reintroduction program organized by the Rewilding Argentina conservation foundation. (Photo courtesy of Rewilding Argentina)
Argentina’s federal government, one of its provincial governments, and an environmental group are pushing for the country’s first criminal trial of a person for hunting a jaguar, which in Argentina is critically endangered and holds protected status. Last December, hunter Carlos Chagra allegedly spotted the paw print of an adult jaguar weighing 150 kilos (330 pounds) in the Chaco—the vast, arid plain of low forest and savanna that stretches from northern Argentina into western Paraguay and southeastern Bolivia. Authorities say he tracked the jaguar for hours in the northern province of Formosa, eventually shooting it dead and displaying the carcass in a video. The video was later obtained and distributed by the Argentine conservation group Red Yaguareté, prompting a court investigation. Jaguars are on the brink of extinction in the Argentine Chaco. Fewer than 20 are estimated to occupy Argentina’s 600,000-square-kilometer (232,000-square-mile) portion of the... [Log in to read more]
