Puma is seen on the coast of Rio after more than a hundred years

A puma (Puma concolor), also known as suçuarana, was caught by camera traps installed at the Serras de Maricá Municipal Wildlife Refuge, a city in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, about 60 kilometers from the capital.

According to the city hall, the species was considered extinct in coastal regions for more than a century. In October 2021, a puma had been identified in the Rio de Janeiro capital after more than 80 years of disappearance.

“The presence of these top-of-the-chain predators in our protected areas is a bioindicator of the quality of our forests,” said Helter Ferreira, secretary of the Sustainable City of Maricá, in a statement.

The puma is the second largest feline in Brazil, second only to the jaguar. According to the city of Maricá, the records of the appearance of the animal were caught in September, November and December 2021.

In addition to the puma, camera traps at the refuge caught, in February 2021, the margay (leopard wiedii), which was also considered extinct in the coastal region, its natural habitat. The species is slightly larger than a domestic cat, with black spots on its body.

Leader of the research that identified the reappearance of the puma in Rio, the professor of the postgraduate program in teaching, environment and society at Uerj (University of the State of Rio de Janeiro) Jorge Pontes told Sheet at the time that two factors may have contributed to its return.

First, the improvement of the environmental conditions of the forests of Rio, with the replanting of areas previously considered degraded. Second, greater urban pressure on areas where the animals currently live, which may have led them to seek out other regions.

This species is seen more frequently in urban regions of São Paulo. In October 2021, firefighters and a team of veterinarians were called to remove a puma from the bathroom of a house in São Pedro, in the interior of the state.

The Piracicaba Municipal Zoo said it was necessary to apply an anesthetic dart to safely rescue the jaguar. The animal was released in its habitat, in a forest in the region.

The disappearance of the species from regions that it had as habitat in the past made ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) classify the animal as vulnerable.

Between 2012 and 2017, the entity established the National Action Plan for Puma Conservation to protect the animal.