Saving the Puma As a Volunteer in Peru

The puma is a large cat. It can grow to about two meter long and can get as heavy as 105 kg (230 lbs). They might be best known for their silent assassin nature, running at a speed of 45 kilometres per hour, which is the equivalent of 30 miles per hour. It can live as high as 4,500 meters and is not particularly picky when it comes to its habitat. It can occupy areas such as from tropical rainforest, swaps, rugged snow country. Due to a range of reasons this animal is now vulnerable and the work to save the species is in desperate need of people wanting to do volunteering in Peru.

The World Conservation Union considers the puma to be near threatened. The organisation is close to raising the puma's status from "least concern" species to "vulnerable". But to do this they will have to back their claims up with more data then they currently have. As a volunteer in Peru you will be able to contribute to the information gathering.

The main threat to the puma is the fact that they get persecuted like a pest animal. Local farmers experience disturbance and destruction to their land and livestock. They therefore hunt pumas, even where illegal. The local population know little about the conservation status of the animal wand is more likely to worry about their farmland and livestock then the cat's safety. But as they puma feels increasingly threatened it will only impose on their lives and their animal's lives more. As a volunteer you would get to help inform the local population about the conservation work that is being carried out in the area and try to share the knowledge so that a sustainable conservation project can be created.

Another threat to the puma is the degradation and fragmentation of its habitat. The continuous deforestation of the Peruvian Amazon is creating a disturbance to the natural habitat of the cat and will seriously effect both its behaviour and development. By helping with the gathering of data as a volunteer you directly impact the outcome for the puma. The more people know about the destruction to the rainforest the more they are likely to try to stop it.

Lastly, but tied into the previous point is the depletion of the puma's pray base. Change in habitat due to growing local communities can severely impact the puma. The smaller cats mostly hunt mice, rats and rabbits. But as the puma grows it can easily attack larger pray such as livestock in the form of sheep and goats. This brings us back to the conflict between the puma and the local communities, and the reason to why they are being hunted. Volunteers work tirelessly to save the puma, and there are many more opportunities to join them in Peru.

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