For the better part of two decades, biologists Alexine Keuroghlian and Donald Eaton have made it their mission to attempt to understand the Pantanal's complex and diverse ecosystem. Although they are studying very different aspects of the region, both are working toward a common goal — to understand the biological and environmental effect cattle ranching is having on this vital region.

Keuroghlian's specialty is peccaries, a pig-like animal that uses the Pantanal and adjacent areas as its home. They have been significantly affected by the fragmenting of habitat into small secluded "islands" because of the demands placed on the region by pasturing cattle. Eighty percent of the beef consumed in Brazil is raised in the Pantanal.

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Dr Alexine Keuroghlian, member of IUCN’s Peccary Specialist Group.

I was honoured and flattered to receive the Harry Messel Award for Conservation Leadership, from IUCN's Species Survival Commission, especially knowing how many wonderful conservation biologists are struggling to make an impact in their region. I wish there could be awards for all of them.

Regionally this recognition promotes our continued efforts to preserve the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), a species that is not necessarily considered cute and cuddly but is threatened in many places in Brazil.

As the Pantanal/Cerrado coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Brazil, our greatest challenges have been to find solutions that prevent further deforestation and encourage rural populations to adopt practices that avoid further habitat loss. To help us reach out to the local community, we teamed up with a popular local woman’s Futsal team who have the white-lipped peccary as their team mascot.

[Read the rest of this article...]

White-Lipped Peccaries are found in the Cerrado and Pantanal forests of South America.

Peccaries, or Queixadas, as they are locally known as, are the unsung, misunderstood heroes of environmental engineering in the Cerrado and Pantanal biomes of South America.

Peccaries might have certain physical attributes and characteristics similar to pigs and warthogs; however, contrary to popular opinion they do not belong to the same family. They do wallow in the mud and use their snouts to dig up fruit, seeds and roots, just like pigs and warthogs, but similarities stop there. One major difference is that the canines of pigs and warthogs never stop growing – therefore they end up growing right through the top of the pigs’ snouts – sealing them shut, leaving the emaciated animal to slowly starve to death. Peccaries are also not omnivores. They feed mainly on fruit but are known to supplement their diet with plants and roots.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Call it the under-pig.

While Brazil’s tropical wetlands may be better known for their spotted cats and freshwater fish, the peccary is one of the country’s most important forest critters. (Though distinct from pigs, peccaries bear a strong resemblance and are part of the same sub-order.)

As seed dispersers, forest engineers—and yes, as prey for those famed jaguars and mountain lions—they play key roles in maintaining local biodiversity.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Um dia de campo WCS e REPAMS

No dia 03 de setembro, proprietários de RPPN associados à Associação de Proprietários de RPPN do MS (REPAMS) e ONG WCS Brasil Pantanal/Cerrado fizeram um dia de campo para conhecer as fazendas Laranjeira e Sucupria que exibem boas práticas na criação de gado ambientalmente sustentável, na região de Bonito e Nioaque em Mato Grosso do Sul.

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

I Curso de capacitação para veterinários de campo com animais de vida livre no Pantanal Sulmatogrossense- Teórico/Prático / Projeto Tamanduá e Animalia

Curso com o objetivo de capacitar Médicos Veterinários e estudantes de Medicina Veterinária para atuarem na área de medicina de animais selvagens em vida livre. Temas como conservação, educação ambiental, contenção física e química, medicina da conservação e saúde pública serão abordados no curso.

O evento contemplará parte teórica e prática e contará com a participação de palestrantes de grande experiência.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Técnica permite ampliar rentabilidade da pecuária no Pantanal sem intensificação

A implementação da técnica do pastejo rotacionado (ou rotativo) em pastagens nativas do Pantanal pode ser uma solução para aumentar a rentabilidade da pecuária na planície sem necessidade de intensificação. Quem defende a ideia é a WCS-Brasil (Associação Conservação da Vida Silvestre), uma Organização Não-Governamental que atua no Pantanal e no seu planalto. A ONG é parceira da Embrapa Pantanal em pesquisas sobre pecuária sustentável. O trabalho sobre o pastejo rotacionado foi orientado pela pesquisadora Sandra Aparecida Santos, da Embrapa Pantanal (Corumbá-MS), Unidade da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária - Embrapa, vinculada ao Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Os estudos foram realizados em uma fazenda no município de Aquidauana. 

Mais informações

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

Deforestation and conversion of native habitats to exotic pasture and crops, plus inefficient agricultural and cattle management practices, are placing great pressures on natural resources in the Pantanal and Cerrado. To prevent further deforestation and protect biodiversity, areas already developed for farming and ranching need to be managed more efficiently and profitably, so that economic incentives for additional deforestation are minimized. To that end, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been working with rural community partners to promote best-management practices that optimize profitability and efficient use of developed lands, while minimizing pressures on natural resources.

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

The Pantanal, one of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands, stretches from western Brazil into parts of Bolivia and Paraguay. It is famous for its wildlife – and cattle ranches: some 95% of the Pantanal is privately owned. In the past, hunting and poaching posed serious threats to local wildlife...

More information

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

Campo Grande (MS) – Estudo realizado por pesquisadores brasileiros e estrangeiros entre 2002 e 2005, publicado recentemente na revista internacional Oryx, sugere que o hábito tradicional da caça do porco-monteiro (forma feral do javali - Sus scrofa), praticada pelos pantaneiros, tem contribuído para a conservação de espécies nativas, como o cateto (ou caititu - Pecari Tajacu) e o queixada (Tayassu pecari), que habitam o Pantanal.

A conclusão é de Arnaud Desbiez, pesquisador francês associado ao Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, também professor da Escola Superior de Conservação Ambiental e Sustentabilidade do Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (ESCAS/IPÊ); Alexine Keuroghlian, norte-americana radicada no Brasil, pesquisadora do Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Brazil...

Mais informações

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

WCS-Brasil (Associação Conservação da Vida Silvestre), uma Organização Não-Governamental que atua no Pantanal e no seu planalto, tem desenvolvido ações para estimular práticas sustentáveis de pecuária para a região e prevenir o desmatamento.

A ONG é parceira da Embrapa Pantanal em pesquisas sobre pecuária sustentável e no projeto de comunicação “Construção da Imagem da Pecuária Sustentável do Pantanal”, que busca divulgar o modelo de pecuária extensiva e sustentável praticado na planície pantaneira.

[Read the rest of this article...]

A pecuária tradicional e extensiva praticada no Pantanal brasileiro é fator de conservação ambiental. A constatação é do chefe geral da Embrapa Pantanal, José Aníbal Comastri Filho, depois de receber a publicação de um estudo que comprova que 87% da vegetação nativa do bioma está intacta.

Esta situação já era de conhecimento de técnicos e pecuaristas que trabalham e vivem na região. O que faltava eram informações técnicas que agora foram levantadas por este trabalho.
 

[Read the rest of this article...]

In Novemeber 2009,  we were extremely excited because for the first time, we were able to catch some very elusive white-lipped peccaries (in the Pantanal's Cerrado plateau).

This will give us the opportunity to see if the population moves back and forth from the highlands to the Pantanal, show whether the highland populations are different genetically from the Pantanal pop., and define ecological corridors in this very unique region that is  threatened by deforestation.
  
 

[Read the rest of this article...]

Globo Ecologia feature on Cerrado species threatened with extinction. The program team visited Serra da Canastra to talk about the situation of the maned wolf and checked out the Canastra Maned Wolf Project, which performs monitoring, collection of samples, mapping and environmental awareness actions with the community through the production of primers and educational videos.



 

[Read the rest of this article...]

National Geographic grantee and WCS-Brasil Conservation Scientist Jean Boubli travels to Brazil’s Rio Negro in Amazon rain forest to search for a wedge-capped capuchin, a primate that historically is not known to inhabit the region.

The primatologist is able to document the monkey on film for the first time ever and collect genetic samples to help determine if this is a new taxon.

[Read the rest of this article...]

From 21 to 29 July 2009, the WCS-Brazil/Amazon team started the field work for the project “Effects of the repaving of BR-319 on the medium- and large-sized mammals”. With the help of six local field assistants, they managed to set up one of the six sampling plots planned.

Each plot is made up of four trails each 4 kilometers long, destined to sample medium- and large-sized mammal species. Due to the bad road conditions and the type of vegetation in the area, field activities took longer than expected.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Entre os dias 21 e 29 de julho de 2009, pesquisadores da WCS–Brasil/Amazônia iniciaram as atividades de campo referente ao projeto “Efeitos da re-pavimentação da BR-319 sobre a fauna de médios e grandes mamíferos”. A equipe, formada por quatro pesquisadores, instalou um dos seis plots de amostragem previstos. Cada plot é constituído por quatro trilhas com 4 km de extensão cada, destinadas à amostragem da mastofauna de médios e grandes mamíferos. Devido às más condições da estrada e ao tipo vegetacional local, as atividades de campo consumiram um tempo maior do que o planejado.

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

A month after the end of the first phase of trail openings on BR-319, the WCS-Brazil/Amazon team returns to the road to conclude the opening up of the sampling plots.

From Aug 29 to Sep 12, researchers Eduardo Venticinque, Fabio Rohe, Marcelo dos Santos Jr and Maíra Benchimol, together with 11 local field assistants, opened up 80 kilometers of trails (5 plots) along the road connecting Manaus to Porto Velho.

With this, the sampling system tha will enable an assessment of the impact of repaving the road on the populations of medium- and large-sized mammals is already in place.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Um mês após fechamento da primeira fase de abertura de trilhas na BR-319, a equipe WCS–Brasil/Amazônia retorna à rodovia para finalizar a abertura dos plots de amostragem. Entre os dias 29/8 e 12/9, os pesquisadores Eduardo M. Venticinque, Fabio Rohe, Marcelo A. dos Santos Jr e Maíra Benchimol juntamente com onze auxiliares de campo dentre eles alguns comunitários, abriram 80 km de trilhas (5 plots) entre os km 220 e 420 da rodovia que liga Manaus a Porto Velho. Desta forma, está instalado o sistema de amostragem que permitirá avaliar o impacto da re-pavimentação da rodovia sobre populações de médios e grandes mamíferos.

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

NEW YORK -- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today the discovery of a new monkey in a remote region of the Amazon in Brazil.

The monkey is related to saddleback tamarins, which include several species of monkeys known for their distinctively marked backs. The newly described distinct subspecies was first seen by scientists on a 2007 expedition into the state of Amazonas in northwestern Brazil.

The monkey is related to saddleback tamarins, which include several species of monkeys known for their distinctively marked backs.  The newly described distinct subspecies was first seen by scientists on a 2007 expedition into the state of Amazonas in northwestern Brazil.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Saúde da Fauna - Matéria do Globo Ecologia sobre espécies em extinção no Cerrado, que visitou a Serra da Canastra para falar sobre a situação do Lobo Guará.

A equipe acompanhou o trabalho do Projeto Lobos da Canastra apoiado pela WCS Brasil/ OWOH, que desenvolve ações de monitoramento...

 

[Read the rest of this article...]