Besides containing a great diversity of wildlife, the park is also the subject of an innovative project geared to limit global warming, an initiative involving the Bolivian Government, conservation groups from Bolivia and the U.S., and three U.S. based energy companies. Specifically, the funding is helping Rabinowitz and other researchers set up an administrative structure for the newly formed jaguar program. New jaguar surveys throughout range countries will shed more light on the elusive animal's status. The initial phase of the program brought together 35 of the world's leading jaguar scientists in Mexico City in 1999 to share research and to begin to define the conservation needs of this threatened great cat. This enabled them to identify where jaguars have actually been observed, where they might exist, and the different types of ecosystems where the cats occur as well as important places for their conservation.
Jaguars currently range from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina.
In addition to scientific research, the overall program will also address environmental education, health and genetic components, governmental policy and parks' creation. Founded in 1895, WCS works to save wildlife around the world and conducts more than 300 research projects in 52 countries. Click here for legal terms of use.