How Jaguar, King of the Forest, Can Save His Nature

Scientists are the main consumers of the forest. Zarza Villaneuva said: “If you remove a wild animal from a particular area, you can produce more and more animals, which can destroy the environment, which can be completely destroyed.”

“Following the animals, we can confirm that they need more space to survive,” adds Ceballos. It is believed that protecting the animals also protects the animals from food. “We need this kind of conflict, using some form of gravity, to help the government expand the forest. This is our last chance to preserve what is a valuable repository of Mexican history and heritage, ”he said. About 500 jaguars live in the Calakmul Biosphere, and, according to Ceballos, about 70,000 other species of plants and animals.

Many of these weights and animals can be distracted by the Tren Maya, or the upcoming Maya Ship, which will pass through the area. The massive construction project, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will connect the poorest and most southern states of Chiapas with rich tourist destinations such as Cancún. Work started in 2018 and is growing, and dividing. Some say it will bring significant benefits to remote towns and villages; others warn that it is a natural disaster. Zarza Villanueva says opposition groups, including many cultures, call it “environmental degradation.” In 2020, a group led by Ernesto Martínez Jiménez, a human rights activist from Calakmul, won a lawsuit to suspend construction work on one side of a planned line, but it is not known if the pause was over.

Back in our camp for the night and filled with mosquitoes, Campos Hernandez shot me tequila. “For bites and itching,” he says. When I mention the train, he and Ceballos pour another drink into it. We are silent for a moment, allowing the choir of insects that travel at night to fill the gap between us.

Finally, Ceballos will speak. “When the train was first announced … I told the authorities that if it affected the environment, they should deal with me.” When he and his colleagues learned more about the project, and how it could not be avoided, he said, “instead of throwing up our hands and saying it was a disaster, we decided to go with them.” Ceballos and his team began to highlight the potential impacts on the environment, and called on the government to include cross-border wildlife in the plans, allowing wildlife to pass through. Campos Hernandez says the Maya Train project will destroy less forests than illegal loggers do each year. He and Ceballos now hope that the project will be able to promote environmental development. “Having the military and the government on our side means we can protect the environment from illegal logging and expand the forest,” said Ceballos. They also believe that it could give the local people an alternative to logging and poaching. He finishes his tequila, and talks about the Maya Train. “And now, I recommend that everyone fall asleep, because we have a chance to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning,” he says.

A few hours later, crying, and the sound of crying, put me to sleep. Our group of two-wheel drive vehicles combined with four specialists, jaguar-track hounds run through the jungle. We arrive at the pile of fresh meat that we left yesterday but find no sign of these animals. As the team explores the area, Don Pancho tells me to smell it: There is a sweet, inside smell. “Jabali,” he says. “They just passed us, but without the animals.”