New measures to protect the jaguar have been agreed at a wildlife summit held in India.
Six countries put forward plans to strengthen protection for the spotted feline as it roams across the borders of different countries.
The species has lost about 40% of its habitat over the last 100 years.
While laws exist to protect jaguars in virtually all the countries where it lives, threats persist, including deforestation and poaching.
The Convention on Migratory Species is an international agreement that aims to conserve migratory species.
Including the jaguar in the agreement will help countries preserve crucial habitat. The aim is to enable animals to move along corridors between countries, helping to avoid the isolation that can lead to extinction.
Rebecca Regnery, deputy director of wildlife at the animal protection group Humane Society International, said listing the big cat will create an international legal framework.
“This will provide increased incentives and funding opportunities for this work, and that is critical for curbing habitat destruction, maintaining key migration corridors and addressing killings for retaliation and trafficking,” she said.
The jaguar’s present range extends from the southern edge of the US and Mexico in North America, across much of Central America, and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina in South America.
The Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CMS took place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from 15 to 22 February.
The Yucatan Times
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