The Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio), a Brazilian national government agency, has launched a new website with information on endangered species found in the various conservation units for which the institute is responsible. Information can be retrieved by simply clicking on a selected conservation unit.

"In the state of Amazonas alone there are 19 conservation units, where you can find animals like the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), jaguar (Panthera onca), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis mitis), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and others, all of them in danger of extinction," Ugo Vercillo, coordinator of Conservation Management at ICMBio, told Tierramérica.

Close to one half of the endangered animal species are in the conservation areas under the jurisdiction of the institute. "Data like these demonstrate the importance of the conservation units in the preservation of species," stressed Vercillo.

The information on the website is from the Atlas of Endangered Brazilian Fauna in Federal Conservation Units, produced by ICMBio.