“Five jaguars and five ocelots (both endangered species), have been detected living in a jungle area to the north of Cancun”, Marco Lazcano Barrero, director of the civil association Reserva Ecológica El Edén, reported on Friday Jan. 3rd.
The wild cats were detected and have been monitored during a year of work by the civil association Reserva Ecológica El Edén, in conjunction with the Moon Palace hotel company and the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp).
In January 2019, the civil organization began installing motion-sensitive cameras at strategic points in the Mangrove Protection Area of Nichupté and its surroundings, which is basically the north side of Cancun, and managed to identify 10 felines.
This is excellent news, considering that there could be wild cat population in other jungle areas across the Yucatan Peninsula.
“Although females do not need much extension to live – about 9 square kilometers, there are males that cover one thousand square kilometers, as part of their territory. We need to create wildlife corridors, if we want to preserve fauna,” said Marco Lazcano who is also a biologist.
In this sense, Lazcano sees an opportunity with the Maya Train to build a wildlife corridor so that jaguars, ocelots, deer and other wild animals that inhabit the zone can travel northwards without any danger.
It should be noted that Quintana Roo is home to 20% of the whole country’s jaguar population.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
