May Júnior Joares A, Quigley Howard, Hoogesteijn Rafael, Tortato Fernando R, Devlin Allison, Carvalho Júnior Rui M DE, Morato Ronaldo G, Sartorello Leonardo R, Rampim Lilian E, Haberfeld Mario, Paula Rogério C DE, Zocche Jairo José
Hospital Veterinário Universitário, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina/UNISUL, Av. José Acácio Moreira, 787, Bairro Dehon, 88704-900 Tubarão, SC, Brazil.
Instituto Para a Conservação dos Carnívoros Neotropicais (Pro-Carnívoros), Av. Horácio Neto, 1020, Parque Edmundo Zanoni, 12945-010 Atibaia, SP, Brazil.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2018 Aug;90(2 suppl 1):2129-2139. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201720170190. Epub 2017 Aug 17.
The Pantanal is the largest inland wetland in the world and is under increasing anthropogenic threats, including long-term regionally intensive gold mining practices. Gold mining activities are known to cause the release of harmful pollutants such as mercury (Hg) to the surrounding environment. Jaguars (Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758)) are apex predators, and therefore show great potential to accumulate Hg by biomagnification. We hypothesize that total Hg content in the fur of jaguars from two sites within the Brazilian Pantanal would be significantly different as a function of distance from active gold mining operations. The Hg content was determined by fluorescence spectrometry. The mean ± SD Hg content in jaguars from the study site influenced by gold mining (SB) was compared to jaguars sampled in the area free of gold mining activities (CA) using a one-way ANOVA. The mean Hg content in jaguars from SB (673.0 ± 916.8 µg g-1) is significantly different from jaguars sampled in CA (29.7 ± 23.3 µg g-1), p = 0.03. The maximum recorded content of Hg was 2,010.4 ± 150.5 µg g-1, highest level ever recorded in a wild animal. The data indicate that Hg is an important threat to jaguars within at-risk regions of the Pantanal.
潘塔纳尔湿地是世界上最大的内陆湿地，正面临着越来越多的人为威胁，包括长期在该地区进行的高强度金矿开采活动。金矿开采活动会导致向周围环境释放汞（Hg）等有害污染物。美洲豹（Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758)）是顶级食肉动物，因此具有通过生物放大作用积累汞的巨大潜力。我们假设，巴西潘塔纳尔湿地内两个地点的美洲豹皮毛中的总汞含量会因与活跃金矿开采作业的距离不同而存在显著差异。汞含量通过荧光光谱法测定。使用单因素方差分析，将受金矿开采影响的研究地点（SB）的美洲豹的汞含量均值±标准差与在无金矿开采活动地区（CA）采样的美洲豹进行比较。SB地区美洲豹的汞含量均值（673.0 ± 916.8 µg g-1）与CA地区采样的美洲豹（29.7 ± 23.3 µg g-1）有显著差异，p = 0.03。记录到的汞的最高含量为2,010.4 ± 150.5 µg g-1，这是野生动物中记录到的最高水平。数据表明，汞对潘塔纳尔湿地濒危地区的美洲豹构成了重要威胁。
