Seriously injured in the legs during the terrible fires that ravaged the Brazilian Pantanal, Amanaci, a female jaguar taken in by an NGO 100 km from Brasilia, risks never finding its natural habitat.
In Tupi-Guarani, “Amanaci” means a rain goddess. But the mammal was unable to do anything when the fire spread to its biodiversity paradise, due to an exceptional drought.
To escape the flames, the female jaguar took refuge in a henhouse in Poconé, in the state of Mato Grosso.
Rescued in extremis, Amanaci was brought by helicopter two months ago to the Nex Institute, an NGO for the protection of felines, in the state of Goias (center), 1000 km from the Pantanal.
The embodiment of the environmental catastrophe that devastated the largest tropical wetland on the planet, she is undergoing stem cell therapy to treat her third degree burnt paws.
“The case of Amanaci touched us a lot, his injuries were horrible, the bones were exposed,” Cristina Gianni, founder of the Nex institute, told AFP.
On Sunday, vets administered sedatives to her and took her out of her cage to change the bandages that protect her wounds.
“We used stem cells to replenish skin tissue and speed healing. For the moment, she responds well to treatment, she eats well and has gained weight, ”explains veterinarian Thiago Luczinski.
Even though she is already doing much better, Amanaci is unlikely to be able to return to the wild.
The flames burned the tendons that allowed him to get his claws out.
“In freedom, she couldn’t climb trees properly, hunt. She is likely to have to remain in captivity ”, laments the veterinarian.
The Nex Institute is currently welcoming 23 injured felines, including Ousado, a jaguar who arrived from the Pantanal a month ago, with his paws second-degree burnt. Cured with ozone therapy, he should be able to be released soon.
This year, fires have devastated nearly 23% of the Pantanal, a region located in the south of the Amazon and which also extends to Paraguay and Bolivia.
The images of previously verdant landscapes reduced to ashes and charred animal corpses have caused a stir around the world and sparked much criticism of the environmental policies of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Environmentalists accuse him in particular of having dismantled public agencies supposed to fight arson.
In September, the number of fires almost tripled in the Pantanal compared to the same month last year.
The record for a whole year, which dated from 2005 (12,536 outbreaks) has already been smashed in nine months, with 18,259 outbreaks since January.