[HN Gopher] For ranchers in Costa Rica, jaguars and pumas become...
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For ranchers in Costa Rica, jaguars and pumas become unexpected
allies
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 49 points
Date : 2024-10-09 13:50 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (news.mongabay.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (news.mongabay.com)
| roymurdock wrote:
| love to see progressive ideas in costa rica on how to coexist
| with our natural brethren. such a beautiful country, hope to see
| a jaguar or puma there in the wild one day :)
| the_af wrote:
| Both jaguars (also called Yaguaretes in Argentina's north) and
| pumas are gorgeous animals, I'll be very sad if/when they go
| extinct. It'll be a huge shame.
| myrmidon wrote:
| Puma is feasible, got lucky and saw a wild one there myself!
| (Corcovado)
|
| Spotting wild jaguars in Costa Rica is insanely unlikely though
| from what the park rangers told us, they are too evasive.
|
| Also, don't miss out on the Cerro Cirripo (highest mountain) if
| you're there and don't hate hiking. It is an absolutely amazing
| way to spend 2-3 days (but we needed permit/reservation in
| advance).
| roymurdock wrote:
| i saw peccaries napping in corcovado - magical place. cerro
| cirripo is on my list for our next trip. their permit website
| needs work though cheers
| Log_out_ wrote:
| Every sunflower throws shade on another and murders it to grow
| tall. All things natural are exponential in a linear resourced
| world, conflict is baked into coexistence. Coexistence is thus
| unnatural,a temporary peace granted ny a triumphator to the
| defeated, lasting as long as the circumstances remain stable .
| roymurdock wrote:
| interesting perspective....agree nothing is permanent but
| competition keeps monopolies from forming and stagnation/rot
| from setting in...
| archgoon wrote:
| I don't get it. The article's title is that the ranchers have
| become allies to jaguars and pumas.
|
| But nothing in the article supports that view. What has changed
| are cattle ranching practices that reduce the opportunity of
| attack. Everything that the article talks about is "How did
| cattle ranchers adapt to an ever present threat of pumas and
| jaguars without killing them (for reasons that are not well
| discussed beyond a reference to a government mandate)" rather
| then "We're best buds now!" or even "We have found utility in the
| jaguar and puma population that benefits us".
|
| It seems the adapted practices are beneficial on their own, but
| it sounds like they would be beneficial without jaguars and
| pumas.
| egberts1 wrote:
| Co-existance via intermingling use of hardier water buffalos'
| with horn within the cow pasture is the key.
| sidewndr46 wrote:
| If the goal is to maximize ranching, I think you're right. But
| if the goal is to maximize the economic opportunities in Costa
| Rica it probably is not the best decision. When I hired a tour
| guide there he pointed out that Costa Rica could easily install
| dams to create vast fresh water reservoirs and generate some
| power as well. But because the country doesn't do this they
| have ecosystems people come to visit their from around the
| world. So by choosing not to maximize for one thing they retain
| another at little to no cost. After all, free flowing rivers
| don't cost much to maintain.
|
| The tourism industry is important to them. So perhaps by
| finding a way to co-exist with big cats, it's a net positive to
| the ranchers because they probably don't want Costa Rica to be
| a nation with only 1 industry. If they can produce enough beef
| (or whatever animal they want to raise) to satisfy domestic and
| export desires then there probably is not much of a need to
| expand the industry at all costs.
| archgoon wrote:
| It is this argument, about what benefits the jaguars
| _themselves_ bring to the farmers, that is unfortunately
| lacking from the article.
|
| Thank you for the additional context.
| IncreasePosts wrote:
| Costa Rica already gets almost 100% of its power from
| renewables. I guess they could create massive dams and then
| sell the power to nearby countries.
| philwelch wrote:
| Also, the jaguars and pumas probably deter cattle rustlers.
| flerchin wrote:
| Title should be: Electric fences and careful herd management
| allow coexistence of ranchers and big cats.
| IncreasePosts wrote:
| > In spite of the recent incident, Duran says that since 2018
| he's been able to see the benefits of jaguar conservation on
| his ranch firsthand. He's now one of the most active cat
| defenders. In December 2023, he became a park ranger and helped
| three former hunters do the same. This transformation is an
| example of how improving data collection and carrying out
| interventions based on evidence in the communities benefit both
| humans and cats.
|
| I guess the point is that ranchers don't blindly hate big cats.
| They hate suffering large economic losses due to big cats. Once
| they aren't suffering the losses, they're happy to have the
| cats around.
| deepsun wrote:
| But it's just obvious, why we even need to discuss it?
|
| Why would some large group of people just "hate" an animal
| species, if not for some suffering they experience?
| aiauthoritydev wrote:
| Yes, the title is completely misleading.
|
| What the article seems to suggest is what economists have
| always known. People react to incentives (and so do animals).
| Ranchers do not have blind hate for cats but rather care more
| about their cattle than the cats. By making few changes that
| are profitable for them cats can co-exist. But that does not
| make them allies.
|
| Cats are not helping the ranchers in any ways.
| louwrentius wrote:
| I think it's fair to say that the title doesn't cover the
| article. So how did they deal with the cats? The
| main intervention is installing electric fences to prevent the
| wildcats from entering the pastures. This measure has been
| implemented at around 160 ranches, including that of
| Jose Luis Rodriguez, two hours outside the Costa Rican capital.
| ACFel has collaborated closely with farmers to install electric
| fences and water troughs, which allow for more divisions and
| intensive rotation of cattle. This approach, according to
| experts, improves the pasture's health and keeps the herd in more
| compact groups, removing the need to find water in forest
| areas where the big cats can attack. The
| project also promotes the adoption of water buffalos (Bubalus
| bubalis), a species that has evolved a defensive instinct against
| predators. These buffalos protect the convention cattle
| and have other attractive qualities: they're hardier, meaning
| they're more resistant to heat, need less veterinary
| attention, and graze on weeds that other cattle won't touch.
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(page generated 2024-10-09 23:02 UTC)