Jaguars will by protected by Guyana with help from conservation groups

The government in Guyana has vowed to protect jaguars with help from US conservation groups.

The pact to save the largest predator in the Americas was made by Guyana in collaboration with the animal conservation group Panthera.

The group has fought to create a corridor for the spotted cat that connects populations from Argentina to Mexico, said the Associated Press.

Guyana is one of several countries that has already agreed to join the network, including Colombia and several Central American nations.

The jaguar is considered a near-threatened species as its habitat has been disappearing due to urbanization and encroaching farmland.

Guyana is said to have some of the most unspoilt forest in South America.

A network of cameras and motion sensors in the forest have shown that it has a healthy number of jaguars – about four per 161 square miles (100 kilometers), reported the Associated Press.

"Historically, Guyana has achieved incredible success in sustainably balancing the country's economic development, natural resource management, the livelihoods of its people, and the preservation of its unique wildlife and wild places," Panthera's CEO Alan Rabinowitz said in a statement.

"The signing of this jaguar conservation agreement demonstrates the government's continued commitment to its legacy of conservation alongside economic progress and diversification."

Jaguars are the third largest feline species after the tiger and lion.

It is the national animal of Guyana.

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