In the last few hours, on social networks, a video has gone viral that was recorded in a private neighborhood in the southern area of Santa Elena, in Antiguo Cuscatlán, where the sighting of a “micoleón fox” can be seen, which wandered through the parking lots of the residential with a notorious desperation and disorientation.
An expert journalist in animals has created a thread on Twitter where he explains the reasons why the appearance of said animal should be considered “alarming” and that it should also be a point that deserves full attention.
In the thread, the journalist makes a compilation about the species sighted. “A monkey is a procyonid (family of mammals that includes species such as raccoons and nipples). It is not a monkey even if people call it” monkey “, he explains.
In his review, the journalist also highlights the animal’s habitat, stating that it lives in mountainous forest areas such as the Cordillera del Bálsamo, which is a chain of mountains that goes from Sonsonate to the south of San Salvador, and connects between the San Salvador Volcano and Lake Ilopango.
“All these connected forest areas make a biological corridor through which fauna moves, and this is where I want to go: The tweet says that it was found south of Santa Elena, that area borders Nuevo Cuscatlán to the south. Both places are in the Bálsamo mountain range”, he indicated.
The journalist emphasizes the accelerated construction of housing developments since 2007, and emphasizes how urban projects in forest areas displace local fauna.
So that you have all the details about the warning exposed by the expert, we leave you the complete thread below:
Well, there are alarming things that deserve attention about this video:
At first glance it looks disoriented
What is a micoleon doing there?
We will try to explain it in the following tweets 👇🏻 https://t.co/puqyXsAAYm— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
First: a small cat is a proscyonid (a family of mammals that includes species such as raccoons and raccoons). It’s not a monkey even if people call it “monkey”
They feed on fruit and are nocturnal, so it is very rare to see them during the day. pic.twitter.com/V7FIsAjY9j— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
The Micoleons are arboreal, they live and move between the trees and although they can go down to the ground, it is not so normal for them to do so. They use their tail as a limb with which they hang and balance, they have a huge tongue and in the reproductive season, they smell sweet pic.twitter.com/KFUl21ZRkf
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
Where they live? In El Salvador they are distributed in mountainous forest areas such as the Cordillera del Bálsamo: A chain of mountains that goes from Sonsonate to the south of San Salvador. This mountain range also connects the San Salvador volcano and Lake Ilopango. pic.twitter.com/QYHWkAGBgO
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
All these connected forest areas make a biological corridor through which the fauna moves, and this is where I want to go:
The tweet says that it was found south of Santa Elena, that area borders Nuevo Cuscatlán to the south. Both places are in the Balsamo mountain range pic.twitter.com/h97pcfDqli— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
Nuevo Cuscatlán is a municipality that in recent years has had an accelerated urbanization:
The first image is from 2007, the second image is from this year. Much of the forest has disappeared and has been replaced by houses and cement. pic.twitter.com/u4GwN6mZSQ— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
Urban projects in forest areas displace local fauna. Animals, pressured by human activity, must adapt to the new environment and encounters with humans begin to be more frequent. That’s when news like this comes outhttps://t.co/wE0Xveq67Z
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
But what is happening in Nuevo Cuscatlán?
Well @malayerbacom has a note that can shed light on what is pushing the local fauna to move.
It’s not that “nature is recovering”, it’s that they are becoming homeless. https://t.co/ISx66IP0Ht— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
Let’s go back to the small cat: Let’s remember that it is an arboreal animal and it moves on the trees, in this part of the video it seems that its instinct makes it look for something to climb, but it can’t find it and it gets disoriented for a moment. Sure, this is not their natural environment pic.twitter.com/qP3uwaLnlm
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
My hypothesis is that this is one of the inhabitants of the forests of the Cordillera del Bálsamo, who has been displaced from his place by the urban projects that are further south, in Nuevo Cuscatlán. And sadly it seems that we will see more scenes like this in the future.
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
Their legs are not adapted to walk for a long time on the ground, much less on concrete. X that is q looks a little clumsy when walking. In addition, his eyes are made for the dark, not for the amount of LED street lighting that “development brings us” pic.twitter.com/URNwqBHXAd
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
So, beware of statements like “he looks happy” or “animals are showing up more, nature is recovering”, the reality seems to be not at all favorable for our environment
— 🎃 🦇 S̶̮̈́a̶̫͝m̶̳̀ 🦇 🎃 (@Spizaetus_T) October 25, 2022
We want to thank the writer of this post for this incredible content
Animal expert warns of “alarming” viral sighting of a “micoleón fox” in Santa Elena
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