Between Fire ants and Jaguars in Panama City
A dense rainforest is the perfect environment for endless species of animals and plants in a protected reserve located a few miles from Panama City: Barro Colorado Island, that along to five adjoining peninsulas, forms the Barro Colorado Natural Monument.
The Chagres River was dammed during the construction of the Canal (1910 to 1914) and as its waters rose to form Gatun Lake , a small mountain of 476 ft. was isolated from the mainland and formed Barro Colorado Island. This island lodges one of the stations of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, that for over 80 years have studied the diversity of fauna and flora of this place and its importance to humanity.
This small but valuable stretch of land is shelter for many species of animals, from insects like fire ants and many others, to 120 mammal species and five species of native monkeys of Panama. For years, this island have been visited for foreigners and local tourists who became amazed of the abundance and preservation of the species, some of them endangered species.
In top of all this attractions, the island is now making worldwide news for a particular visitor that arrived to the forest days ago. We are talking about a beautiful and impressive jaguar that was photographed by a web camera installed in a tree (with the purpose of making species census). The most interesting fact is that this stretch of land is not big enough to host feline families, which makes us guess that this curious outsider, swam across the GatГєn Lake for about 200 yards from his habitat. We don’t know for how long this jaguar was swimming, or for how long he stayed in the island, but the truth is that this fascinating discovery fulfills environmentalists and Panamanian people with hope and optimism.
June 2, 2009
Posted in: Central America