85% of the park in MT’s Pantanal that houses the world’s largest jaguar refuge was destroyed by fires | Mato Grosso

The town is known for having the highest concentration of jaguars in the world. Tourists from the country and abroad seek the park to observe jaguars during boat rides.

According to an analysis by the ICV, the jaguars, which are already in danger of extinction, are now also threatened by fires that are raging across the state.

In the video released by the institute, you can see how the areas of the Encontro das Águas Park were and are being affected by the fires.

The government decreed an emergency situation in Mato Grosso due to forest fires. The decree will be valid for 90 days and may be extended.

The blaze, which started weeks ago, was fought by innkeepers and local residents and was fought by firefighters last week.

• Government decrees emergency situation in MT due to forest fires
• Experience indicates that the fires in the MT Pantanal were caused by human action

Last month, a jaguar invaded several homes of Pantanal residents after their habitat was destroyed by burning in the region.

She was rescued and transferred to the Institute for the Conservation and Defense of Felidae of the Brazilian Wild Fauna in Extinction Process (NEX), in Corumbá de Goiás, in the northeast region of the state,

Another adult jaguar was rescued in the Porto Jofre region with injuries and signs of burns, last Friday (11). Several other animals have also been rescued and medicated. Many did not resist and died.

The Encontro das Águas State Park is at the meeting point of the Cuiabá and Piquiri rivers, in the Porto Jofre region, between Poconé and Barão de Melgaço, municipalities 104 and 121 km from Cuiabá. The reserve covers 108 thousand hectares and you can see the exuberance of the Pantanal up close.

Visitors observe the animal from afar during boat trips on the Pantanal rivers.

The best period to observe the jaguar is between July and the end of September, a dry period. In these months the jaguars are closer to the banks of the rivers in search of water and game, so it is easier to run into the animal.

Data from Prevfogo, Ibama’s National Center for the Prevention and Fight of Forest Fires, in 2020 show that the burned area in the Pantanal has already exceeded 2.3 million hectares, 1.2 million in Mato Grosso and more than 1 million in Mato Grosso do Sul.

This area of ​​more than 2 million represents almost 10 times the size of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro combined.

The Pantanal is the Brazilian biome proportionally most affected by fires, but in Mato Grosso fires spread throughout the state.

Burns increased in the Pantanal in July, when the drought became even more intense. The days are so dry that the climate is similar to that of a desert, with humidity below 10%. But the problem is not just the weather.