A Disappearing Shadow

Dappled silhouettes amongst the trees –

A lost memory of verdant lands.

Your fragmented impressions

Have disappeared from view;

All that remains is

An empty shell

Which one day

Too will

Fade.

This is a nonet, inspired by recent research that has succeeded in comparing the movement and space use of jaguars across five different biomes (a region defined by a specific climate and population of fauna and flora) in Brazil and Argentina.

Scientists recently discovered that only about 300 jaguars remain in Brazil. The main reason for this is because only 7% of the Atlantic Rainforests (where the jaguars live) now remain. This dramatic reduction has resulted in the near extinction of the jaguar in these regions, a problem made worse by the fact that what remains of the Atlantic Rainforests is now so fragmented that the jaguars must travel great distances and expose themselves to multiple threats (mainly from humans) in their quest for food.

This new research used GPS tracking to monitor 44 jaguars from 1998 to 2016 across different regions of the Atlantic Rainforest in both Brazil and Argentina. The study, which is the largest of its kind, revealed for certain that the Atlantic Rainforest jaguars travelled across the largest ranges and were thus the most likely to encounter humans. This research fills a gap in the knowledge of the jaguar’s habitats and is essential to help develop more effective conservation efforts.

An audio version of the poem can be heard here.