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BUENOS AIRES — A ranger patrolling northern Argentina’s densely forested El Impenetrable national park found a large paw print on a muddy riverbank in September 2019. Biologists thought there were no jaguars left in the park, but the print led them to find a lone male prowling the bush.
Now, the jaguar, whom scientists have named Qaramta, has found a mate after scientists carefully set him up on a blind date with a captive female. “We hadn’t seen a female in the Chaco for years, and we said, he’s going to end up dying without reproducing,” said Sebastian Di Martino, director of conservation at Rewilding Argentina, the nonprofit in charge of the project.
The team made a huge corral in the park and brought a female jaguar called Tania from their other jaguar rewilding project in the Iberá wetlands region. Qaramta visited her regularly and the two hit it off, purring like cats and nuzzling each other through the bars. Eventually, they decided to open her corral and let him inside.
“The most beautiful moment was the day that we got them together,” Di Martino said. His team watched the trap cameras with bated breath, nervous that Qaramta might be too nervous to go into Tania’s pen, or that the two jaguars might end up fighting. But the next day, they could tell from Tania’s behaviour that the two had started mating.
Jaguars can copulate 50-100 times a day, according to Di Martino. “The idea that she might get pregnant and have cubs, and that those cubs might live in freedom there… it was like the first step towards reversing a story that’s always been about loss.”
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Now, the jaguar, whom scientists have named Qaramta, has found a mate after scientists carefully set him up on a blind date with a captive female. “We hadn’t seen a female in the Chaco for years, and we said, he’s going to end up dying without reproducing,” said Sebastian Di Martino, director of conservation at Rewilding Argentina, the nonprofit in charge of the project.
The team made a huge corral in the park and brought a female jaguar called Tania from their other jaguar rewilding project in the Iberá wetlands region. Qaramta visited her regularly and the two hit it off, purring like cats and nuzzling each other through the bars. Eventually, they decided to open her corral and let him inside.
“The most beautiful moment was the day that we got them together,” Di Martino said. His team watched the trap cameras with bated breath, nervous that Qaramta might be too nervous to go into Tania’s pen, or that the two jaguars might end up fighting. But the next day, they could tell from Tania’s behaviour that the two had started mating.
Jaguars can copulate 50-100 times a day, according to Di Martino. “The idea that she might get pregnant and have cubs, and that those cubs might live in freedom there… it was like the first step towards reversing a story that’s always been about loss.”
The Last Wild Jaguar in El Impenetrable National Park Just Had Sex
Biologists set him up on a historic blind date. He thinks she’s purrfect.
www.vice.com
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