Bolivia

Andean Cat Alliance (Alianza Gato Andino)

(http://www.wildnet.org/andean_cat.htm)

The Andean Cat Alliance, Alianza Gato Andino (AGA), works to protect the Andean cat in all four range countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru). Conservationists from these countries, as well as from the United States, created the Alliance in 2004. Collaboratively, they review current threats to the cat and coordinate their conservation activities.

AGA's integrative approach has yielded groundbreaking accomplishments, including:

• first capture and radio-collaring of an adult-female Andean cat
• first photographs of Andean cats in Argentina
• use of camera trapping and DNA analysis of feces to confirm the Andean cat's presence in three additional departments in Peru and one additional province in Argentina
• completion of cat diet studies in Bolivia and Peru, yielding important
• information on prey abundance and preferences

The Andean cat is the most endangered cat species in the Americas. It is also one of the most rare and least known felines worldwide. In the last 25 years there have been fewer than 10 documented sightings of this small carnivore, which lives exclusively in the remote high-altitude deserts of the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. In addition to natural rarity and habitat loss, the prime threat to the survival of the Andean cat is direct persecution by humans. Some local residents kill the Andean cat because they consider it dangerous to humans and domestic animals, though it is only slightly larger than domestic cats. Other local people use stuffed cats and skins in traditional dances and religious ceremonies and believe that killing a cat will bring good fortune.

 

 

Action Against Hunger

(www.actionagainsthunger.org)

Recognized worldwide as a leader in the fight against hunger, Action Against Hunger delivers programs in over 40 countries, specializing in emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disasters and longer-term assistance to people in distress. Our ultimate goal is to help vulnerable populations regain their self-sufficiency for long term sustainability.

Action Against Hunger has a proven ability to respond to both emergency and rehabilitation needs, and our therapeutic and supplementary feeding programs are at the forefront of life-saving efforts in the fight against hunger. Our expertise integrates programs in nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, health and advocacy, our ultimate aim is to enable populations to regain their autonomy and self-sufficiency as soon as possible.

 

 

Mano a Mano

(www.manoamano.org)

Mano a Mano Medical Resources (Spanish for "hand to hand") was founded on the simple proposition that medical inventory that would otherwise be wasted should be routed to places where it can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Last year Mano a Mano Bolivia filled 487 requests for medical supplies and equipment from non-profit health care programs, and constructed and opened 59 community health clinics. Mano a Mano partners with communities, local governments, the Bolivian Health Ministry and Bolivian non-profit organizations to prepare Bolivian sources to assume responsibility for funding and operating clinics within three years of opening. Mano a Mano will continue to provide medical supervision and clinic personnel and continuing medical education.