New Podcast Episode: Fernando Tortato & Jaguar Tourism in Brazil
Jaguar (Panthera onca) biologist, Fernando Tortato, Pantanal, Brazil. Sebastian Kennerknecht
In this month’s podcast episode we talk to Fernando Tortato from his home in Cuiaba in Brazil’s Pantanal. Fernando is Brazil Conservation Program Coordinator for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.
Dr Tortato talks about his work researching and championing the rapidly growing Jaguar tourism industry in Brazil. Twenty five years ago it was very difficult to see a wild Jaguar anywhere. Today some of the Pantanal lodges offer ‘Jaguar Express Trips’ that pretty much guarantee a Jaguar sighting before lunch. In a fascinating interview he talks about trying to balance the intersection of economics, conservation and cultural values when working with local communities and cattle ranchers and the parallels with Chile’s growing Puma tourism. We also learn what it feels like to be charged by an angry Jaguar who blames you for wrecking his chances for romance.
I hope you find it as interesting as we did!
As always you can stream the episode from the link or look for ‘mammalwatching’ on Spotify, Apple podcasts and beyond.
If you have suggestions for future episodes then we’d love to hear them.
Thanks
Jon
Cover image: Jaguars by Sebastian Kennerknecht
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