{"id":314,"date":"2023-11-16T14:06:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T15:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/?p=314"},"modified":"2023-11-23T08:08:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T08:08:27","slug":"karma-is-a-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/2023\/11\/16\/karma-is-a-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Karma is a Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christina Armstrong, WWF’s Development Officer, Regional Philanthropy, East<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift\u2019s chart-topping song <\/span>Karma<\/span><\/i> off her <\/span>Midnights<\/span><\/i> album was on repeat in my head in Brazil\u2019s Pantanal while on <\/span>Natural Habitat\u2019s Jaguars & Wildlife expedition<\/span><\/a> in July 2023. Yes, the song is a current, popular release, and I love Taylor Swift, and music in general, but the reason the song was in my head was because our amazing Expedition Leader, Zapa, kept repeating to our group, \u201cKarma!\u201d Then, I would sing to myself, \u201cKarma is a cat,\u201d from Taylor\u2019s song, as we searched for <\/span>jaguars<\/span><\/a> along the riverbeds in the heart of the Pantanal, Brazil. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Guide<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Christina Armstrong \/ WWF-US<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhy would Zapa say that?\u201d you might be wondering. As one of the first Natural Habitat Pantanal groups in 2023, we estimated that we saw 146 species of birds and 177 species of animals in just six days. I couldn\u2019t even name that many species in one sitting, let alone comprehend how inspiring it would be to experience one of the world\u2019s most biodiverse areas. Did you know that the Pantanal is mostly privately owned? <\/span>About 95%<\/span><\/a>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We saw numerous threatened and near threatened species living their best lives, such as jaguars mating, giant anteaters carrying their young on their backs, giant otters chomping on fresh fish over a log alongside a riverbed of <\/span>mangroves<\/span><\/a>, marsh deer sniffing native, vibrant-colored flowers, and <\/span>hyacinth macaws<\/span><\/a> building a home in an innovative box with their lifelong mate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Aaron Clausen \/ WWF<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

WWF has done great work with hyacinth macaws in this region, and it was interesting to learn about the importance of certain trees that macaws need to build their nest. They prefer soft trees called manduvi palm trees that have been cut down through the years \u2013 destroyed by deforestation, fires, clearing for cattle pastures, or logged for furniture and other products. The challenge is that even if these trees are replanted, the macaws will only make their nests in the ones that are 60-80 years old, so it takes an entire generation to regrow one manduvi tree. <\/span><\/p>\n

As an alternate solution, WWF and other local programs created nesting boxes to encourage the macaws to build their nests. They also wrapped the trees in a metal strip so that predators could not make their way up the trees and destroy the nests. This has been a huge success in the return of hyacinth macaws, and it was rewarding to learn that <\/span>WWF played a part in the return<\/span><\/a> of the macaws.<\/span><\/p>\n

WWF also has worked to protect jabiru storks, which we saw several times, and jaguars are a growing priority within WWF\u2019s current wildlife strategy. It was fascinating to see jaguars up close (yet at a safe distance), swimming across the river, hopping from branch to branch, and snoozing in the sunshine, like my puppies do. \u201cKarma!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to fauna, we saw the flora of the Pantanal. The brilliant pink ip\u00ea tree bloomed across the region as we flew from the North Pantanal to the Southern region. This vibrant tree is only in bloom for about 7-10 days a year usually in August or September. It was the end of June and serendipitously, we were there to see it.<\/p>\n

\"Ipe<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Christina Armstrong \/ WWF-US<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The good fortune continued as we saw the tail of a jaguarundi as it ran across our trail and <\/span>capuchins<\/span><\/a> played above our heads. That evening, a tapir ran by our tour vehicle as foxes danced in the spotlight. While the jaguars were readily seen, I didn\u2019t expect to see the elusive puma during the day, but we did. <\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers had jaguar traps set up through various areas in the <\/span>Pantanal<\/span><\/a>, and one morning, we quickly drank our coffee, scurried into the tour vehicle, and drove around the other side of the lake of where we were staying to see that one of the traps had safely captured a puma, and it\u2019s currently the only puma in the world to be collared.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Karma is a cat\u2026<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Kelvin Brown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christina Armstrong joined WWF in 2022<\/span> on the philanthropy team, working with supporters up and down the East Coast of the United States. <\/span>She\u2019s<\/span> led fundraising teams on causes ranging from families experiencing homelessness to <\/span>helping youth in Latin America through enrichment and nutrition programming.<\/span> Christina has a passion for music, traveling, and hiking with her husband<\/span> and two <\/span>Frenchies<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Karma is a Cat<\/a> first appeared on Good Nature Travel Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christina Armstrong, WWF’s Development Officer, Regional Philanthropy, East Taylor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dimensionfx.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}