Rare jaguar is photographed in the environmental reserve of Usina Coruripe, in Minas Gerais

A melanic jaguar, popularly known as the black jaguar or "black panther", was photographed in a private environmental reserve maintained by Usina Coruripe, in Januária, in the North of Minas Gerais.

The registration of the rare species, at the end of October, is an important step towards the preservation of the animal, which represents around 10% of the jaguar population. On November 29th, International Jaguar Day is celebrated.

The Porto Cajueiro Environmental Reserve has an area of more than 18 thousand hectares in the cerrado biome. The discovery is the result of monitoring work on the reserve's biodiversity, carried out through the Mammals Project, which has the support of the Biotropics Institute, and indicates a probable connection with the population of jaguars in the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, located approximately 30km from the RPPN.

"This potential connection is very important, as it would enable the movement of animals through the region, which is essential for maintaining the jaguar population, as the species needs large natural areas to survive", highlights Marcell Soares Pinheiro, biologist and field coordinator at the Biotropics Institute.

Threatened with extinction, the black panther is the same species as the jaguar (Panthera onca). Despite the dark coloring, the animal also has rosettes, characteristic spots of the species, however, due to a genetic mutation, the fur is more pigmented and the marks are more difficult to see.

The feline was photographed on the southwestern edge of the RPPN, close to the edge of the plateau, far from the communities that border the Carinhanha River. The biologist states that the discovery of the animal, which is threatened with extinction, does not pose any risks to the population. "It is important to highlight that encounters between people and jaguars are extremely rare and this species is unlikely to pose any risk to humans", he highlights.

The presence of the melanic jaguar in the Porto Cajueiro RPPN signals that the conservation unit can serve as an "ecological springboard", a strategic point of connection between areas of natural habitat.

"So that jaguars can reach other conservation units in the region, such as, for example, the Veredas do Peruaçu State Park or other protected areas on the banks of the Carinhanha River", points out the biologist.

The Mammals Project plans, in the medium term, to develop initiatives to better understand the use of the RPPN by the species and also to assess the general state of conservation of the jaguar's potential prey.

In September, in the cameras that monitor medium and large animals in the conservation unit, other important mammal species from the cerrado were identified: maned wolf, tapir, ocelot, small wild cat, tayra, paca and armadillo -loose-tail. In partnership with the Biotropics Institute, information was also collected to inventory anurofauna species in areas of the Carinhanha River, in order to identify effective measures for the conservation of amphibian fauna.

Sustainable Partnerships

The Mammals Project is part of the Sustainable Partnerships initiative, created to enable partner companies to participate in projects developed or supported by Usina Coruripe. To date, the project has six large companies (Ubyfol, FMC, Bayer, Corteva, Coplana and Mosaic), which have decided to support all projects of the Institute for Social and Ecological Development (Idese), an institution whose objective is to promote development sustainable.

With units in Coruripe - AL and Januária - MG, the institute invests in social and environmental projects that promote education, culture, entrepreneurship and the development of the communities where it operates. "We developed Sustainable Partnerships to value suppliers and other partners aligned with our socio-environmental principles", explains the president of Coruripe, Mario Lorencatto.

He highlights that the company maintains several other environmentally responsible projects, with the preservation of more than 25 thousand protected hectares in the states where it operates. In addition to Porto Cajueiro, the company has four other Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPN): Pereira and Lula Lobo, in Feliz Deserto, on the coast of Alagoas; Riacho Seco and Afrânio Menezes, in Coruripe - AL.

In Alagoas, scientific mapping of mammals is carried out with the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), which assesses, among other issues, the systemic needs of animals, which may be linked to their extinction.

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