Ker Than in New York City
for National Geographic News
February 16, 2009
Jaguars and other big cats can protect humans from the rise of future pandemics akin to HIV and bird flu.
That's the message freshly trained "doctor conservationists" will be taking into the field as part of a new collaboration between a wildlife-protection nonprofit and a teaching hospital.
In Central and South America, jaguars are often labeled as "cattle killers" and are slaughtered on sight. The species is also at risk of declining genetic health as its habitat contracts and populations are cut off from each other. (See wild jaguar photos.)
"If the animals are forced to stay instead of travel, that can lead to a loss of fitness and create a cascade down the health ladder," said Alan Rabinowitz, president and CEO of the big-cat conservation group Panthera.
"Once that cascade has been set off, it has been shown through data to directly link to increases in disease among neighboring human populations."
Read the full story at National Geographic News
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