This article is aimed at describing: the cats that live in the mountains that surround Medellín, the biodiverse territory where they are raised, the problems they are subjected to, and the importance of drawing up remedies to mitigate the threats that help natural preservation of these habitats. Just 20 kilometers away from Medellín, the existence of felines such as the cougar has been evidenced, which is why it is necessary to carry out processes that help conserve the habitat of this species.
Medellín is a strategic city in South America, its valley surrounded by mountains with varied reliefs and slopes where water sources flow, have originated different ecosystems endowed with abundant biodiversity of fauna and flora inhabited by various species of cats. The Department of Antioquia has an extension of 63,612 km2 and most of its territory belongs to the Andean mountain system. The city of Medellín, its capital, is located in a valley at an altitude of 1,479 meters and has a population of 2,870,000 inhabitants.
Of the six (6) species of cats that exist in Colombia, Antioquia is home to all of them, and just 20 kilometers from the city of Medellín, in some forested mountains that surround it, five (5) of these species live, in the middle of a exotic biodiversity in fauna and flora, which must be preserved.
EXISTENCE OF FELINES IN MOUNTAINS NEAR MEDELLÍN
In the mountains that are part of the municipalities of the metropolitan area of Valle de Aburrá, to which Medellín belongs, there is evidence of the existence of five, of the six species of cats that inhabit Colombia. Medellín is the second largest urban conglomerate in the country, and the existence of cats in its mountains is a reflection of the biodiversity of the department of Antioquia. In the mountainous areas surrounding the city, five species of cats live: 1) Jaguarandi or Puma (Herpailurus Yagouaroundi), 2) Margay (Leopardus wiedii), 3) Ocelot or Tigrillo (Leopardus pardalis), 4) Oncilla, (Leopardus tigrinus), and 5) Puma (Puma concolor). According to this description, the jaguar is the only species of feline, of the six that are part of the Colombian fauna, which does not live near Medellín.
1) JAGUARUNDI (Herpailurus Yagouaroundi): Also known as Gato Moro, or Zorro-Gato, it lives from southern Canada to Argentina, in Colombia it has been seen in various parts of the country. Unlike other twilight cats, it is a diurnal species that feeds on birds and small rodents. It is similar to a tigrillo, it has been seen in Envigado as it appears, in a collision by motor vehicle that a Jaguarundi experienced on the road to El Escobero in March 2012, registered by the application Tayra Transport, Animals and Registry of Run-ins), according to studies advanced by researchers from universities and departmental entities (1) (Obando, Juan Manuel, 2017). (2) (Arias Alzate, Andrés and Delgado, Carlos A, Ortega, Juan Camilo, Sebastián Botero Cañola, Sebastián, and Juan D. Sánchez-Londoño, 2013).
2) MARGAY (Leopardus Wiedii): It is also known as macaraya, cocoromalo, tiger, chicken coop and manigordo, it belongs to the family Felidae, it is carnivorous, its fur has a yellow background on the back and sides, white on the belly and chest, covered by points, rosettes or black elongated rings. The Margay is similar to the Ocelete but its tail is longer, it lives in wooded areas, it tends to climb trees, but it moves on land, it is twilight, it has large bulbous eyes and weighs 8 kilos. Their evidence is confirmed in Caldas at the top of San Miguel, as exposed by researchers from U de La Salle in Caldas, in (3) (Quintana Diosa, Lizeth Elena, Carmona Acevedo, Marcela, 2014)
3) OCELOTE OR TIGRILLO(Leopardus Pardalis): Its name derives from the Aztec word ocelot, it is the third largest feline in the country after the jaguar and the cougar, it weighs up to 12 kilos. It lives in forests of the Alto del Escobero in Envigado and was introduced to the Alto de San Miguel in Caldas. Copy detected by phototraps in August 2012 (cameras to take photos and videos, sebums or baits are placed in front of the lens, they take night photos), placed by researchers from Aburra Natural where the back and tail can be seen, as they explain, the researchers Sánchez, Juan David and Botero Sebastián, «We know that it is an ocelot because its size is three times more than that of a domestic cat, its spots are rosettes and not spots like those of the woolly tigrillo, they also differ in the length of the tail, the size of excrement and footprints ». (4) (Sánchez,Juan David and Botero, Sebastián, 2013).
4) ONCILLA (Leopardus Tigrinus): Known as Chicken Tigrillo, Hairy or Woolly Tigrillo, and in indigenous languages: Puinave: Watyáo, Wayo or Guatya; Ocaima: ibaabuuku, dsaammonntmma or jubiyorinko; Ocaima: yukpa. It is the smallest feline that exists in Antioquia, it lives in Envigado in the Escobero, Alto de las Palmas and Alto del Romeral through photo-trapping and there are records of being run over on the Escobero road, therefore, it is found in the vulnerable species category. (5) According to the research work of (Rodríguez-Mahecha, Jorgenson, Durán-Ramírez, Bedoya-Gaitán and González Hernández, 2006), (Navarro, Hincapie and Silva. 2016).
5) THE PUMA (Puma Concolor): It lives in several regions of Colombia, it is adaptable to different climates and is considered a threatened species. He has been seen in La Romera, an ecological park located five kilometers from the urban area of the municipality of Sabaneta, with photo-trap cameras. According to the researcher José Fernando Navarro assigned to Rastreo Colombia, they saw images of a female with two young and then two males appeared in 2014. (6) According to (Londoño Arcadio 2016), an official attached to the Ministry of the Environment, in Sabaneta.. In Table N ° 1, the cats that inhabit the mountains near Medellín are described.
TABLE N ° 1 SPECIES OF FELINES LIVING NEAR MEDELLÍN
| No. | FELINE SPECIES | NEAREST MUNICIPALITIES TO MEDELLÍN WHERE THEY HAVE SIGHTED. | TYPE OF RECORDS |
| one | Jaguarundi (Herpailurus Yagouaroundi) | Envigado | Tayra |
| two | Margay ( Leopardus Wiedii ) | Caldas (Alto S. Miguel) | Phototrap |
| 3 | Ocelot (Leopardus Pardalis) | Envigado and Caldas | Phototrap |
| 4 | Oncilla (Leopardus Tigrinus) | Envigado and Alto de las Palmas | Fototrappa and Tayra |
| 5 | Puma ( Puma Concolor ) | Sabaneta | Phototrap |
Source: Own elaboration, based on Tayra records (Transport, Animals and Registry of
Run-ins), photos and video taken by phototraps installed by researchers
attached to universities or public entities outlined in the bibliography.
THE TERRITORY WHERE THE FELINES LIVE HAS A SHAPE OF HORSESHOE.
Mountain ranges that surround Medellín have corridors that are imaginatively shaped like a horseshoe and interconnect the passage of cats from east to west and vice versa. There is a first corridor that allows cats to cross between the west and east, consisting of: the Alto del Romeral located in San Antonio de Prado, which connects with the Alto del Padre Amaya, with the mountains, Las Baldías in San Félix and they communicate with eastern Antioquia through Alto de San Miguel, where the Medellín river rises, passing through the municipality of El Retiro, and places such as Castellana, Perico, Rionegro and Parque Arvi. According to Corantioquia officials, (7) (Restrepo Llanos, Juan Camilo, 2016) "There is a clear corridor between San Antonio de Prado, La Estrella, Caldas, Sabaneta, Envigado and a little to Arví, then to Copacabana and Girardota."
La Romera located 5 kilometers from the municipality of Sabaneta, constitutes one of the natural areas of the Aburrá Valley that stands out for the diversity of species that live there. According to approximate figures, they account for 28 species of mammals, 168 birds, 8 amphibians and reptiles, and 5 fish, in addition to 228 plants present in this area of just 200 hectares. (8) According to (Londoño Arcadio 2016), an official attached to the Ministry of the Environment, in Sabaneta they live: the woolly tigrillo, mountain bus, tairas, foxes and mice.
Caldas is located in the Aburrá Valley, bordered on the north by the municipalities of La Estrella, Sabaneta and Envigado, on the east by the municipality of El Retiro, on the south by the municipalities of Santa Bárbara and Fredonia and on the west by the municipalities of Amagá and Angelópolis. The height of San Miguel could be considered as one of the junction points of the horseshoe that serves as a crossing point for cats between east and west and visceversa. This high wooded spring source is located in the micro-basin formed by the La Clara gorge, where the Medellín river begins, and connects the north-eastern part of areas that belong to the Ecological Reserves of San Sebastián and -La Castellana, in bordering jurisdiction with the municipality, El Retiro.
Inventories carried out by government entities in places such as: La Romera in Sabaneta, Envigado, and the upper area of El Retiro (San Sebastián-La Castellana) and up to the Arví Park, the biodiversity is evident in these habitats belonging to the Aburrá Valley, (9) as explained by an official attached to, the Environmental Subdirectorate of the Metropolitan Area (Vélez Bedoya, Víctor Manuel, 2015) “in these places, cats find a varied diet of species such as: mice, weasels and some birds such as turkeys and guacharacas "There are 100 of the 479 species of mammals in Colombia, 316 of the almost 1,900 of birds and 43 species of amphibians and reptiles of 1,334 in the country". It is worth noting that the Aburrá Valley represents in extension 1.8% of the departmental territory.
There is a second corridor that is part of the imaginary horseshoe that allows cats to cross between east and west. The cats come from municipalities in Antioquia such as: Puerto Berrio, Amalfi, Saragoza, Anori, San Andrés de Cuerquia, Barbosa, Girardota and Copacabana, which cross through one of the junction points, Alto de San Miguel through the mountains that communicate with Rionegro, El Retiro, Caldas, Envigado, Sabaneta and la Estrella.
THREATS AND SPECIES IN THE WAY OF EXTINCTION
According to what officials from the Panthera Organization in Colombia explain, (10) (Esteban Payán, Esteban) “Big cats are the first to become extinct since they require large, well-preserved areas, have slow reproductive characteristics (gestation and prolonged breeding, and small litters).) and are subject to great threats from human communities. ”
The cats that live in the mountains near Medellín are threatened by: the indiscriminate cutting of forests, the decrease in the rural area caused by the increase in urban projects, illegal hunting, road traffic, the commercialization of exotic species and the increase in deaths from motor vehicle collisions: the death of woolly tiger cats has been on the increase, 11 records in 8 years, for which it is necessary to draw up corrective measures.
In the 3,299 hectares of protected areas in populations in the south of the Aburrá Valley, researchers from universities and public entities have installed 33 cameras, which have been rotated in 50 sites where the presence or passage of wildlife has been evidenced. (11) According to (Obando, Juan Manuel, 2017), in charge of Tayra, "It remains after having evidenced, with photos and videos, the presence of nine species (in addition to cats) on the verge of extinction", threatened in ecosystems near the Aburrá Valley.
SOLUTIONS TO PRESERVE SPECIES
In the face of indiscriminate logging, it is necessary to expand protected areas, and to legislate with more severe penalties for those who attempt against fauna and flora. Areas of La Romera in Sabaneta el Alto de San Miguel in Caldas and some others in Envigado and El Retiro must be joined to declare them as protected areas, a goal of 400 hectares must be set, forming a kind of regional protected area. According to the biologist (12) (Restrepo, Zorayda, 2018), entities such as Corantioquia, the Envigado Mayor's Office, and the Medellín Botanical Garden, have been advancing in a Local System of Protected Areas called (Silape), since November 2013.
Preventing the increase of the urban border in areas where the cats live, and controlling the subdivisions and urbanizations should be a concern of the Land Management Plans, to avoid reducing the quality of life of the habitats of these animals.
Decreasing the poaching of cats is an imperative, man has been an enemy of the species of cats that inhabit Colombia, in some rural communities where those of cats attack livestock and poultry, hunt them without control. Training workshops are recommended to educate these communities to use other means such as: whistles, sirens, flares, or electrified fences that persuade cats to attack livestock and barnyards, to prevent livestock from remaining in the wild. outdoors in the evenings, putting on shirts with human sweat so that the feline feels the presence of the man and even using buffaloes which defend the cats from the felines, it is about educating and proposing a peaceful coexistence between man and felines.
Combat the commercialization of wild feline species for which it is necessary: to continue advancing with environmental protection legislation, currently there are Laws such as: 1333 of 2009, 1453 of 2011 and 1774 of 2016, where there are penalties of up to 12 years in prison and fines ranging up to 50,000 current legal monthly minimum wages. In addition, checkpoints should be increased, which should be more routine.
Reduce death from motor vehicle collision: Better signal the roads, warning drivers about the fauna that lives in the surroundings and the precaution of not running over them. The signs should appear once you enter the habitats and in the curves of the road. As defense mechanisms. On the road to El Escobero bridges or wooden connectors 40 and 50 centimeters wide were installed that rise 30 meters from the ground and cross from one side to the other of the road to make way for the wildlife found in the areas forested in the Aburrá valley.
More research on cats is required to learn more about how they manage to reproduce and feed in order to design conservation programs because their protection depends on other animals in the same ecosystem.
CONCLUSIONS
The mountains that surround Medellín are a natural sanctuary that invites its conservation, it is necessary to protect its forests, avoid indiscriminate logging and expand the protected areas, the cats have found there a refuge and a habitat that shows the biodiversity that surrounds us.
There are imaginary horseshoe-shaped corridors that connect the eastern and western forests of the department of Antioquia that have allowed cats to move in both directions. These connections constitute biological corridors that have guaranteed the survival of these species.
The POT Plans of municipalities such as: Caldas, El Retiro, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella, Copacabana, Girardota and la Estrella should avoid increasing urban areas, subdivisions or constructions in places where cats live, to try to increase the quality of the habitat of these species.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REVIEWS
- Obando, Juan Manuel. “The wildlife that overwhelms urban growth”, based on Juan Manuel Obando, administrator of the Tayra system (Transport, Animals and Register of Run-ins). Researcher of Aburra Naturala. Taken from the site http://esferaviva.com/atropellaciones-de-fauna/. August 30, 2017. 2. Arias-Alzate, Andrés and Carlos A. Delgado, Juan Camilo Ortega, Sebastián Botero Cañola, Juan D. Sánchez-Londoño. " Presence of Puma Yagouaroundi Carnivora Felidae in_the Aburra Valley, Antioquia, Colombia". Unam from Mexico, University of Antioquia, CES University and Wollongon University from Australia. Posted in Brenesia 79: 83-84. ISSN-0304-3711. March 2013. 4. El Colombiano newspaper.Valencia Gil, Juan Carlos. "The ocelot lives in forests of the Aburrá". Based on the investigations of Sánchez, Juan David and Botero Sebastián, assigned to Aburra Natural. Medellín, February 9 de Rodríguez-Mahecha, Jorgenson, Durán-Ramírez, Bedoya Gaitán, González Hernández, Navarro Hincapie and Silva.) “ Death of mammals by vehicles on the Escobero road, Envigado (Antioquia) ” 2014 taken from JP, Durán - Ramírez. Documented by Delgado Carlos A. Taken in 2016 from: https://revistas.eia.edu.co/index.php/Reveiaenglish/article/…/854Domínguez, Santiago. “ The Romera last lung of Sabaneta” Based on Declarations by Londoño, Arcadio, official of the Municipality of Sabaneta. Taken from https://medium.com/@Delaurbe/la-romera-%C3%BAltimo-pulm%C3%B3n-de-sabaneta-5af699bb1f87 June 2016 Periódico El Colombiano. Martínez Arango, Rodrigo. “ Envigado has seen 9 threatened species. November 22, 2017 . According to research by forest engineer Juan Manuel Obando. Taken from: https: //www.elcolombiano.com/antioquia/especies-amenazadas-en-envigado-antioquia-MX7743952. El Colombiano Newspaper. Velásquez Gómez, Ramiro. "Fauna del Aburrá: between life and death (chronic)". Based on investigations by the official Juan Camilo Restrepo Llanos, attached to Ecosystems in Corantioquia, "There is a clear corridor between San Antonio de Prado, La Estrella, Caldas, Sabaneta, Envigado and a little to Arví, then to Copacabana and Girardota." December 3, 2016. Taken from: www.elcolombiano.com/blogs/cienciaaldia/tag/aves ídem, Domínguez, Santiago.
- El Colombiano newspaper. Velásquez Gómez, Ramiro. " Diverse and threatened fauna". According to the researcher Víctor Manuel Vélez Bedoya, a biologist from the Environmental Department of the Metropolitan Area, he tells that in Aburrá, December 2, 2015. Taken from https://www.elcolombiano.com/tendencia/las-lomas-un-zoologico- open-to-all-DB3210137Rico, Guillermo. Colombia: rural communities and their key role for the conservation of Puma. Posted in Mongabay Latam. February 14, 2017. Taken from: https://es.mongabay.com/…/colombia-las-comunidades-rurales-papel-clave-la-conserv… 12. Restrepo, Zorayda. " Envigado works for a local system of protected areas". July 21, 2018. Taken from
