In a series of cute videos, two newborn jaguar cubs frolic and play after nuzzling up to each other while suckling from their mother.
Proud jaguar mum Mbarete can be seen giving her two adorable cubs a few wide-tongued licks after they were born in El Impenetrable National Park in the province of Chaco in Argentina.
Mbarete and the cubs are set to be transferred to the Ibera National Park, where a 1,381.4-square-kilometre nature reserve is found in the province of Corrientes in northeast Argentina.
The stunning jaguars will then be freed within the confines of the massive reserve in order to preserve the genetic diversity of the recently reintroduced jaguar population in the natural park, according to a statement Newsflash obtained from the Fundacion Rewilding Argentina.
Sebastian Di Martino, the foundation’s Conservation Director, described ‘rewilding’ as the “active management” of wildlife in order to reclaim lost species and “impoverished natural environments.”
He added: “Nature degradation has reached such alarming levels that traditional ideas of conservation, based on the principles of protecting without intervening, are now challenged by new strategies – such as rewilding.”
The foundation is made up of a group of conservationists dedicated to turning back the clock on the “species extinction crisis” in Argentina, in collaboration with natural parks such as Ibera and El Impenetrable.
These nature reserves have played an active role in jaguar conservation efforts in the country, according to Argentina’s Environmental Minister, Juan Cabandie.
He told local media: “The efforts we are making are bringing back a species that is crucial to the biodiversity and culture in two regions of northern Argentina (Chaco and Corrientes), where (the panther) was once extinct or virtually extinct.”
Proud mum Mbarete was born along with another jaguar named Arami in 2018.
The adorable newborn cubs were the first jaguars to be born in the province of Corrientes in 70 years.
This is due to the fact that the awe-inspiring felines were listed as Critically Endangered in Argentina after they were nearly wiped out of the country over the last century, according to reports.
An estimated 200-250 jaguars (Panthera onca) now occupy less than five per cent of the species’ historical geographic territory in Argentina.
This is due to habitat fragmentation as well as hunting and a decrease in jaguar prey, according to the statement.
