Ernest Azarkevich
07/21/2021 10:50 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 07/21/2021 10:50 AM
After more than three decades, environmentalists from the Yaguareté Network once again detected the presence of a rare species of ferret in Misiones.
Through camera traps installed in the Moconá Provincial Park, on the border with Brazil, the presence of two specimens of the large ferret species (Galictis vittata) was recorded.
The rare animal, which two years ago could not be classified by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation due to lack of data, was photographed on a restricted-use road, very close to the Saltos del Moconá, in the northeast province .
The species is present from Mexico to southern Brazil, but in Misiones
the last records date from 1989, when a skull and the leather of a specimen were found.
In Argentina it was only reported three times.
Environmentalists who documented the presence of the large ferret explained that it is a mammal that usually feeds on rodents and other small animals, in addition to fruits.
And it weighs between 2.5 and four kilos.
From the Yaguareté Network they said that the large ferret was photographed by a camera trap on August 20 of last year.
One of the environmentalists warned that due to the size and density of the fur, it was not the minor ferret (Galictis cuja).
From then on, intense research began with scientists from other countries, where the presence of this species of ferret is common.
The arrival of different photographs from Mexico ended up ruling out any doubt: the camera had registered the presence of two large ferrets, although
it could not be established with certainty if they were a couple.
Nicolás Lodeiro Ocampo, from the Yaguareté Network, said that once the information was corroborated, they began to review all the records taken by the cameras they have installed in the Park because they believe that they may have already photographed the rare ferret but they confused it with the Galictis cuja .
"It would not be unusual for new records to appear," he enthuses.
It is a mammal that usually feeds on rodents and other small animals, in addition to fruits.
And it weighs between 2.5 and four kilos.
The fact that the finding occurred at a time when the Moconá Provincial Park was closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic is not relevant for Lodeiro Ocampo.
“I cannot rule out that the appearance is due to a lesser movement of people but we do not have elements to confirm it either.
The cameras are 200 meters from the place of movement of the tourists, so it is imperceptible for the animals, ”he said.
"Although the large ferret lives from Mexico to southern Brazil, until today for our country there were only three very old records in the province of Misiones," said Norberto Nigro, president of the Yaguareté Network.
So rare is this carnivore in Argentina, that in 2019 the Society for the Study of Mammals (SAREM) and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation declared it as having insufficient data, and it was not possible to establish its current conservation category .
“The images show two individuals crossing a road.
This species could only be confused with the fairly frequent lesser ferret (Galictis cuja), even though there are some external differences between them, of which the size, density and length of the coat are the ones that can be observed more easily in living specimens. ”, They explained from the Yaguareté Network.
The finding is of such value that it merited a publication in the scientific journal "Notes on South American Mammals" published by SAREM.
From the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Misiones they celebrated the finding.
"It is a clear message for the entire society regarding the good conservation of the Paranaense Forest," said Minister Mario Vialey.
Missions. Correspondent.
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