In Argentina’s first conviction for the killing of a jaguar (Panthera onca), a judge on Aug. 15 found four ranchers guilty in the shooting death of one of the cats, of which an estimated 250 remain in the country. The jaguar has Argentina’s highest protected status, but it has faced greater danger of being killed by ranchers and farmers as agricultural operations have expanded into its habitat. The killing that prompted the conviction occurred in July 2024 in the northern province of Formosa. The province forms part of the Chaco region, a vast area of dry forest that extends from Argentina into Paraguay and Bolivia and has been the focus of torrid cattle-ranching growth in the face of strong international beef demand. The killing was reported after the men posted a photograph on social media showing them smiling alongside the dead animal. Law-enforcement authorities identified the men and...
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Uruguayan palms are struggling to weather an attack by the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), which began infesting trees in the southern department of Canelones in March 2022 and has since spread to eight departments. Initially targeting Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), the exotic pest leaves the trees’ fronds dry, discolored, and at risk of falling. The Canary Island date palm is widely used as an ornamental plant in Uruguay and even for symbolic purposes. The design of Independence Square, Montevideo’s main square, includes 33 Canary Island date palms commemorating the 33 revolutionaries who started the country’s push for independence from Brazil in 1825. Concerned about the spread of the pest, the government this May established a national commission to help develop a coordinated response. Meanwhile, local governments have stepped up efforts to combat the weevil, a pest native to Southeast Asia. The red palm weevil spends its egg...
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Bolivia has assigned “vulnerable” conservation status to 15 of the country’s 16 native turtle species, marking a substantially broader risk since nine turtle species were categorized as vulnerable in the previous such evaluation, conducted in 2009. The assessment appears in this year’s version of Bolivia’s Red Book of Wild Vertebrates, a government-funded publication prepared by a variety of Bolivian researchers and by domestic and international scientific institutions ranging from the Bolivian Natural History Museum and the Wildlife Conservation Society, a U.S.-based conservation nonprofit. Experts attribute the reptile’s plight to a wide range of pressures including habitat loss, climate change, human consumption of turtles, illegal trafficking of turtle meat, eggs and live turtles, as well as medicinal and artisanal trade in turtle products. Though Bolivia covers just 0.2% of the planet’s land area, it is among the top 20 countries in the world when it comes to turtle-species...
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