14 SevenWorlds,OnePlanet BBCWildlifeDecember^2019
SEVEN WORLDS | ONE PLANET
Iguazu,manakns,
puma
&tamarns:
BBC
NHU;
macaw:Ke
n&
Hubert/naturep.comback again for one last try, this time
using drones, so we could see what
was going on from the air.”
“We also had the best local guides,”
says wildlife cameraman John Shier,
“and we could spend many hours
with our main character Sarmiento,
a female puma with three fairly
well-grown cubs. We also benefited
from the conservation movement
that has started. Ranchers have
stopped killing cats, as
they’ve discovered there’s
more money to be hadfrom
ecotourism and pumasthan
from rearing sheep.”
Pumas, however, don’thave
everything their own way.
Guanacos are big animals,
and they can fight back,as
John saw for himself.
“For me, one ofSarmiento’s failed hunts was simply
shocking. I’d always assumed that
pumas make a quick assault and
either give up or make a quick kill,
but this hunt was a bloody all-out
battle for survival. The guanaco
outweighed Sarmiento, and it really
stomped and kicked the heck out of
her. Even more surprising was how
relentless she was: she just kept
coming. It drove it home to me how
difficult it is not only to be a puma,
but also a puma mother with three
nearly grown-up cubs. If she doesn’t
layallonthe line, her family starves.”Shared past
The presence of
the puma shows that,
although much of South
America’s fauna and flora is
unique,there are distinct echoes
ofothercontinents because of the
waytheseven continents have
beenmoving. South America’s
marsupials are descendants of
animalsthat were on the continent
whenAntarctica and Australia broke
awayabout120 million years ago.
Ancestorsof New World monkeys,
suchastheCritically Endangered
cotton-toptamarin from Colombia,1
2
3
1 Puma cubs in
Chile chase down
an adult guanaco
after their mother
is badly injured
in the pursuit.
2 Male blue
manakins form
part of a ‘dance
troupe’ to support
a dominant male.
3 Scarlet macaws
can be found in
large numbers
in the Peruvian
Amazon.