Puma cubs: conservation of a species threatened with extinction

The Puma (Puma concolor) is a species of medium to large-sized feline which is found in the three Americas, from Patagonia to Canada. It is one of the species threatened with extinction in Brazil, due to its disappearing habitat and widespread poaching. It can weigh as much as 80 kilos, and measures about 2.5 meters from nose to tail. Its preferred habitat is the forests and their edges, but sometimes it can be seen in fields near clumps of trees. It is mostly nocturnal and has solitary habits, and is only seen in pairs during the mating season. Monte Alegre farm offers conditions which are adequate for the survival and conservation of the species. Having taken into account its relative abundance in the region and the fact that the species is threatened with extinction, Klabin and the RHAE – CNPq Program financed the Project "The Puma (Puma concolor) Ecological Study on Monte Alegre Farm".
This study began in March of 1998 and was concluded in March of 2000, having been carried out by the NGO Project Puma, based in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, which is an organization studying large cats in Brazil.
Various methods of survey were used to carry out the Project, including radio-collar tracking, remote cameras, spore identification, analysis of faeces and wild animal spotting.

The Monte Alegre farm in Telemaco Borba is home to about 100 pumas, one of the species of mammal threatened with extinction in Brazil. In November 2005, two cubs were found in a pine plantation, which goes to show that the company’s forests offer adequate survival conditions even for animals at the top of the food chain. The cubs were recovered by their mother, which took them to safety somewhere deep in the forest. Two other cubs had already been found in a stand of eucalyptus in the same region in October 2004.
The fauna in Klabin forests has been studied since 1980, and researched in conjunction with both public and private universities in Parana and Sao Paulo, as well as environmental NGO’s. One of these was The Puma Ecological Study carried out in Monte Alegre in the period between 1998 and 2000 with the purpose of identifying and quantifying this feline in the farm’s forests. 559 species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish were identified, besides the pumas. 14 of this total are on IBAMA’s list of animals considered to be threatened with extinction.