Latest news with #MataCiliar
News.com.au
an hour ago
- General
- News.com.au
Sao Paulo's pumas under attack as 'stone jungle' threatens rainforest
Apartment blocks and shopping centers sprout like mushrooms around a wild cat sanctuary that shelters pumas recovering from injuries suffered at the hands of mankind in Brazil's Sao Paolo state. The Mata Ciliar refuge stretches over the equivalent of 40 football fields just 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the state capital Sao Paulo -- Latin America's biggest metropolis. Twenty-five pumas and 10 jaguars are receiving treatment at the center -- including Barreiro, a five-year-old puma named after the semi-rural neighborhood where he was found caught in a trap made with a steel cable. Barreiro is being treated for a deep cut to the hip. "Due to the advancement of urbanization into its natural habitat, when the puma moves, it gets lost between roads, gated communities and other human interventions," Mata Ciliar president Jorge Bellix told AFP. As its habitat shrinks in step with human expansion, the puma is forced to move closer to settlements to find food -- which may include pets and livestock, as its natural diet of deer and smaller wild animals gets diminished. The big cats risk being run over by cars, electrocuted by security fences or trapped in snares set by either hunters trying to catch wild boar or residents warding off predators. Some are poached for their skins or as trophies. "If this continues, we will unfortunately witness the extinction of several (animal) species within a few years," said Bellix, whose refuge has treated some 32,000 creatures since it was founded nearly 30 years ago. - 'Stone jungle' - Mata Ciliar also houses monkeys and maned wolves, and is located within the vast Mata Atlantica forest in a country with some of the highest wild cat diversity in the world. But just a few kilometers away looms the grey expanse of Sao Paulo, a metropolis of 21 million people nicknamed the "stone jungle." "The situation is critical: the animals of Sao Paulo are losing the war against urbanization," said veterinarian Cristina Harumi, who helped save Barreiro and hopes he can be returned to the wild soon. The puma, sitting as it does at the top of the food chain, is considered a bioindicator: its disappearance would be an alarming sign of the extent of environmental degradation, she added. The puma, also known as mountain lions, is listed as "near threatened" in Brazil by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains the "Red List of Threatened Species," while mountain lion sub-species outside the Amazon basin are considered "vulnerable."
Malay Mail
7 hours ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Sao Paulo's pumas under attack as ‘stone jungle' threatens rainforest
JUNDIAÍ, June 14 — Apartment blocks and shopping centres sprout like mushrooms around a wild cat sanctuary that shelters pumas recovering from injuries suffered at the hands of mankind in Brazil's Sao Paolo state. The Mata Ciliar refuge stretches over the equivalent of 40 football fields just 90km from the state capital Sao Paulo — Latin America's biggest metropolis. Twenty-five pumas and 10 jaguars are receiving treatment at the centre — including Barreiro, a five-year-old puma named after the semi-rural neighbourhood where he was found caught in a trap made with a steel cable. Barreiro is being treated for a deep cut to the hip. A puma (Puma concolor) injured in a hunting trap is treated by veterinarians and biologists from the Mata Ciliar association, an organization for the conservation of biodiversity, in Jundiai, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, May 29, 2025. — AFP pic 'Due to the advancement of urbanisation into its natural habitat, when the puma moves, it gets lost between roads, gated communities and other human interventions,' Mata Ciliar president Jorge Bellix told AFP. As its habitat shrinks in step with human expansion, the puma is forced to move closer to settlements to find food — which may include pets and livestock, as its natural diet of deer and smaller wild animals gets diminished. The big cats risk being run over by cars, electrocuted by security fences or trapped in snares set by either hunters trying to catch wild boar or residents warding off predators. Some are poached for their skins or as trophies. 'If this continues, we will unfortunately witness the extinction of several (animal) species within a few years,' said Bellix, whose refuge has treated some 32,000 creatures since it was founded nearly 30 years ago. An aerial view of a neighborhood near a forested area in Jundiai, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, May 29, 2025. — AFP pic 'Stone jungle' Mata Ciliar also houses monkeys and maned wolves, and is located within the vast Mata Atlantica forest in a country with some of the highest wild cat diversity in the world. But just a few kilometres away looms the grey expanse of Sao Paulo, a metropolis of 21 million people nicknamed the 'stone jungle.' 'The situation is critical: the animals of Sao Paulo are losing the war against urbanisation,' said veterinarian Cristina Harumi, who helped save Barreiro and hopes he can be returned to the wild soon. The puma, sitting as it does at the top of the food chain, is considered a bioindicator: its disappearance would be an alarming sign of the extent of environmental degradation, she added. The puma, also known as mountain lions, is listed as 'near threatened' in Brazil by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains the 'Red List of Threatened Species,' while mountain lion sub-species outside the Amazon basin are considered 'vulnerable.' — AFP
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
A robotic dog and a tribute to Colombia's cycling soul: photos of the day
Lone Wolf, a military robotic dog, entertains children at the America 250 Celebration at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville Photograph: Karl DeBlaker/AP David van Wyk, lead researcher at Bench Marks foundation, is reflected in a stream of contaminated water leaching from a mine dump at Snake Park. In South Africa, 15-20 million people live close to highly toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and the radioactive element uranium Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images A man rides a rickshaw past fishing boats moored at a port Photograph: Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images A French police officer enters the sea in an attempt to prevent migrants and asylum seekers from boarding small boats. Officers used teargas and pepper spray to try to disperse hundreds of people trying to board boats, but were overwhelmed by the numbers. A record 15,000 migrants have left northern France and arrived in the UK this year Photograph:Patients lie in beds in the underground parking of the Sourasky medical centre in Tel Aviv, in readiness for retaliation from Iran after Israel's attack Photograph: Itai Ron/Reuters A jaguar bares its teeth at the Mata Ciliar association, an organisation for the conservation of biodiversity, in Jundiai. Twenty-five pumas and 10 jaguars are recovering at the Brazilian Center for the Conservation of Neotropical Felines at Mata Ciliar, a site as large as 40 football fields where monkeys, wild dogs, maned wolves, ocelots, and other regional animals are also rehabilitated Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images A performer dressed as the Na Tcha deity, a character in Chinese myths and legends, prepares for the traditional celebratory feast at the temple of Na Tcha Photograph: Eduardo Leal/AFP/Getty Images A fire officer inspects the site of the Air India flight 171 crash Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters Destroyed vehicles are pictured outside a building hit by an Israeli strike. It was among 100 targets, including nuclear facilities and military command centres, struck in an attack that killed senior figures in Iran, including the armed forces chief and top nuclear scientists Photograph: Meghdad Madadi/Tasnim News/AFP/Getty Images People carry buckets of mud on their heads during the re-plastering of the Great Mosque of Djenne. Thousands of Malians converge before dawn for the annual plastering of the iconic mosque, in the world heritage-listed historical town in central Mali. First built in the 13th century before being destroyed, the mosque was completely rebuilt in 1907 and is the largest earthen monument in the world Photograph: Ousmane Makaveli/AFP/Getty Images Visitors interact with an inflatable art installation at the Euphoria Art Is in the Air exhibition at the Grand Palais d'ete Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images Palestinians flee to the western parts of the Khan Younis after the Israeli army warned that it would launch an offensive against the centre of the city Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A worker loads food aid in a cargo plane for delivery in Ulang and Nasir counties in Upper Nile State, which have been ravaged by fighting between militiamen and the army, in an operation run by Fogbow, a US company organising the airdrops with funding from the South Sudanese government Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters Members of the art collective Sand in your Eye take part in creating a 40m-diameter sand drawing of Ludwig van Beethoven on Elie Beach, East Neuk, to celebrate the East Neuk festival, which starts at the end of June Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA A view of the damage to a school attacked by Shahed drones Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Kenyan police look on as an assortment of 7,000 illicit firearms and small weapons, recovered during security operations in the Bulbul area of Ngong district, burn Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters An installation called The World's Largest Bicycle rises as a tribute to Colombia's cycling soul in the rolling highlands of Tinjaca Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
