For more than 20 years, Dr. Bill Swanson (CREW’s Director of Animal Research) has been working in Brazil to conserve Latin American felids (animals in the cat family). I was fortunate to get to travel with him to Associação Mata Ciliar (AMC), a non-profit organization that promotes the conservation of over 300 plant and animal species. AMC’s Centro Brasileiro para a Conservação Dos Felinos Neotropicalis (Brazilian Neo-Tropical Feline Conservation Center) is the largest feline conservation center in the country, which houses eight of the ten cats endemic to Latin America. Habitat loss and poaching have threatened most of these species with extinction in all or part of their natural ranges. Specifically, we’ve come to AMC to work with jaguars and tigrinas, but more on that later.
The Associação Mata Ciliar is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 dedicated to developing projects for conservation. CREW has been partnering with AMC for 16 years to conserve Latin American Felids.
The eight wild cat species of Brazil. (photos: Associação Mata Ciliar):
Also under the AMC umbrella is the Centro de Reabilitação de Animais Silvestres (Wildlife Animals Rehabilitation Center), offering medical treatment and care to injured wildlife from all over the São Paulo region. Many of the injuries are the result of vehicle strikes, wildfires, or hunting. Other animals come to the center because they were confiscated from wildlife traffickers. AMC gives these animals a chance to return to their natural habitat and contribute to the survival of their species, a powerful tool for the imperiled wildlife of Brazil.
Stay tuned for more updates from Brazil!
AMC often cares for wild-born kittens that are confiscated from wildlife traffickers or displaced from their homes due to habitat loss.
Great photo’s and story……Way to go Lindsey!