95 Conservation For centuries in South America, jaguars were widely respected and viewed as icons of godlike power. Now, according to Diana Frete, the vice mayor of the nearby town of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, these mighty felines are “symbols of living culture.” Residents have respect for and take pride in the nature of the region. Young people are more likely to stay in their hometowns and participate in the local economy by becoming guides and artisans. Rewilding Argentina staff members will continue to monitor the surrounding environment, ensuring it will thrive. They are already using GIS to track invasive species, such as feral pigs and deer. Gauchos (cowboys) have been enlisted to keep an eye out for the animals, recording sightings with QuickCapture. That data feeds into the team’s GIS dashboard. Jaguars have begun to have cubs in the wild. As the jaguar population grows, there is hope that their presence will naturally balance the Iberá ecosystem. A similar project reintroduced Drone flights at night, using thermal sensors, provide a means to monitor nocturnal predators. (Photo by Constanza Pasián, courtesy of Proyecto Yaguareté) Wildlife radio telemetry is used to track the movement and behavior of the jaguar. Image courtesy of Proyecto Yaguareté. gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park and had cascading ecological effects. As the wolves preyed on the overpopulation of elk, which had overgrazed the land and eroded riverbanks, other species—bears, pollinators, birds, and fish—returned to their natural habitats. In Iberá, jaguars prey on medium-sized predators that have freely hunted birds, lizards, and rodents for decades. De Angelo and his team hypothesize that, as the mediumsized predator population returns to its natural size, smaller animals, such as endangered bird species, will be saved from extinction. With GIS technology, De Angelo can manage an expansive conservation effort. By adopting a combination of GIS mobile applications and dashboards, “Rewilding Argentina has the power to do more dynamic work,” he said. Watching the jaguar project unfold has been a rewarding process for De Angelo. He remembers the first conversations about it in 2005: “When the idea was presented, everybody was saying, ‘Yeah, sounds nice, but it’s almost impossible.’ More than 15 years later, now jaguars are there. And the process is working.”
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