Working with a Puma in the Jungle - Parque Ambue Ari

I was paired with a puma named Yuma and, for a couple of days, Jo, an Australian girl. After Yuma took a running leap at Jo, our co-ordinator Noemi decided they weren't getting along and switched her with Laurel, who worked with me for the rest of the month.

Yuma

Yuma sleeping...

My, what big teeth you have...

The aim of the refuge was originally to rehabilitate maltreated or unwanted animals and return them to the wild. This sometimes proved possible with the monkeys, birds, and ocelots, but not with the big cats, which pose too much threat to villagers and livestock. Thus, we tried to give them as natural and enjoyable lives as possible within the bounds of captivity. Yuma had a cage deep in the jungle, about a quarter hour's walk from our living quarters and isolated from the other animals, since keeping unrelated big cats together distresses them, and the presence of big cats distresses most other animals. During the day, Yuma's time was split between a runner, which was what prevented her from making contact with Jo, and being walked on a lead. The runner was a length of rope about 100m long connected to her cage at one end and a tree at the other, and to Yuma via another rope. It gave her the chance to run, jump, play with her ball practice hiding and then trying to sneak up us, or just sleep in the sun.

Walking the cat was the most interesting part of the job. Yuma had a reputation for being a bit unpredictable and in particular for disliking women. According to her log book, she'd recently done enough damage to a couple of volunteers, in separate incidents, that they'd become unwilling to walk her. Flinching back or handling the cat roughly when it tries to "jump" you only makes the behaviour worse, so it was important to always remain really calm while around Yuma.

Walking Wara, one of triplets

Yuma crosses a bridge

Get out of the way, Carl...

Fortunately, Yuma settled quickly with me and adjusted well to my presence. After a few days, and a couple of practices with Noemi's backup, I was able to take the lead and we started walking her every day. Although sometimes she would dive or swat a paw at me if I got in her way or in her personal space, she never inflicted pain or left any major marks. She was much more aggressive towards Laurel, sometimes trying to dive past my legs to attack her with teeth and claws. Laurel was very good at remaining calm and suppressing the instinct to recoil, and within two weeks she was able to take Yuma's lead. Soon, we started walking Yuma twice daily, Laurel on lead in the morning and myself in the afternoon. Yuma's path terminated at the river, and we were able to encourage her to briefly swim, something she had done before, but not for a while. We set up a runner by the riverbank so that we could both swim with her. I finally became convinced that Yuma liked me when she would follow me in and out of the water, swimming against the strong current and often staying in the water for over an hour.

Laurel gets jumped...


Swimming

Another swimming photo

Laurel swimming with Yuma

After swimming

Yuma was a good hunter, and thus sometimes a good wildlife guide, detecting many jungle creatures that we couldn't see. Once we found an unlucky rat dead in her cage. Another time, she caught and devoured a mouse while being walked on her lead. A third time, also on her lead, she caught an armadillo, but was unable to pierce its shell. The animal slipped into its burrow, which Yuma tore up and then guarded, spending nearly an hour in a fruitless effort to recover her prey. Another time, we saw a snake in a long battle with an eagle, which we had to restrain Yuma from joining. Often, she would spot monkeys, which she would always watch intently although of course she was never permitted to climb trees to chase them.

Yuma with the armadillo