Jaguar in the Pantanal.
This jaguar came a little too close for comfort on a trip to the Pantanal this past April. The big cat emerged from a swampy area shortly after sunset and approached within 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) before bolting off. This photo was taken while the jaguar was still about 20 feet away — no pictures were taken thereafter.
Located in the center of South America, in the Bolivia-Brazil-Paraguay border region, the Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland. But the ecosystem is increasingly under threat by cane growers and infrastructure projects.
In an effort to protect the Pantanal, the Brazilian government in August proposed banning cane ethanol plants in the region and requiring farmers to use no-till planting methods. Farmers would also be required to eliminate the use of machinery and agrochemicals.
Meanwhile today a team of highly-esteemed Amazon researchers writing in the journal Science laid out a plan to halt deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon — the world’s largest block of rainforest — by 2020. A summary: Brazil could halt Amazon deforestation within a decade.