Habitat Conflicts- Did You Know?

Did you know jaguar habitat has shrunk by 40%? They require between 20 and 30 square miles of habitat. Jaguars prefer wet lowland habitats, swampy savannas, tropical rain forests, subtropical forests, forests, and grasslands. Today they mainly roam in the Amazon basin. Their habitat is being fragmented by deforestation for agriculture, grazing land, palm oil and other uses. These broken up pieces of forests can lead to a lack of travel for the jaguars so they cannot find new mates which increases the chance of inbreeding and local extinctions. Palm oil is found in several products and you can help jaguars and other animals by checking to see if you are using sustainable palm oil. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) can give you more information about sustainable palm oil. You can also make sure you use sustainable wood by buying wood that has the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label.

Celebrate World Jaguar Day on April 10th!