Saving the Elusive Jaguar

blog by : Carla Cary

Endangered species project: Jaguar (Panthera Onca)

Jaguars are large cats which can be found in many US states, Central and South America. They are often confused with Leopards, but by looking closely at the two you can begin to spot the differences. One way they are easily identified is by their yellowish tan color and bold black rosettes or rings covering their pelt. The bigger rings along the back and sides usually have a smaller spot in the middle surrounded by a darker tan area. Jaguars can weigh anywhere from 115-200 pounds and males can grow as long as 7 feet in length.

Being on the top of their food chain, these strictly carnivorous cats are big time predators and consume around 85 different types of natural prey. Depending on their area of inhabitance, their diet can vary. The jaguars living in the more forested parts of brazil prey on mammals such as peccaries, capybara and tapirs. While the cats living in other regions will prey on turtles and camain, and if the jaguars habitat overlaps with ranch land, these cats won’t hesitate to turn cattle or sheep into a meal.

Although they are spread across much of Central- South America, their territories usually are in forests and can be anywhere from 5-102 square miles, with a density of about 1-7 adults per 39 miles. In addition to their expansive territory, one male jaguar can also encompass territories of several females in his general area.

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/jaguar.cfm

2. These cats historically resided in a few lower US states bordering Mexico, Central and South America. Now a days, their numbers have decreased substantially, putting them on the endangered species list. Their populations have been restricted to only parts of Mexico, a few countries of Central America and still a large portion of Northern South America.

It is uncertain exactly how many jaguars there were in the world 50-100 years ago but during the 1960’s-1970’s as many as 18,000 of these big cats were killed for their coats. According to the International Species Information Service lists, there are only 15,000 jaguars left worldwide in the wild. 

3. Their listing date for being ENDANGERED is 03/28/1972 and they are listed as endangered in the USA (AZ,CA,LA,NM,TX), Mexico, Central and South America.

4. Some of the main causes for the listing of the Jaguar was hunting of the cats for their beautiful pelts and agriculture as well as logging fragmenting their environment. Today, even with the continued efforts to help protect these magnificent cats, there are still many threats to their survival. 

These mainly include: 

-Fragmentation of habitat, being a large predator and a highly mobile species requiring lots of space, this is very detrimental to the well being of the jaguars.

-Deforestation, logging, agriculture, turning wild forests into human populated areas or ranch land.

-Illegal control by farmers, ranchers and others

-In Bolivia, trophy hunting for jaguars is a big deal. Jaguars also have no legal protection in Ecuador or Guyana

-Black market value for pelts is extremely high

-bordering fences between mexico and the United States restrict the roaming of the cats.

-Competition with humans for the same food sources (cattle, deer, etc.)

-Chemicals and other pollutants in farmed lands

http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/jaguar/jaguar.html

5. The Jaguar does however have a large recovery plan with many dedicated scientists and wildlife biologists who will go through great lengths to make sure this great creature is saved from extinction. There are many different ways that scientists are going about this, most of it involving numerous research projects to study the effect that certain environmental and human factors have on the jaguar, such as roads, deforestation due to agriculture and construction of houses. In addition, other research projects are being held to monitor the movement of the Jaguar, vital rates, the effect that weather has on the cats and competition for prey between Jaguars and other predatory animals and pumas.  There are also collaborations being formed with many organizations, educational opportunities to inform people on the importance of preserving the species as well as landowner incentives to promote not killing jaguars on ranch land, lastly there is regulation and enforcement of rules to prevent as many of these cats being hunted in addition to restrict human access in areas where Jaguars breed, live and hunt.

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/049777%20-%20Jaguar%20Recovery%20Outline%20-%20April%202012_2.pdf

You can help make a difference in the conservation of these great creatures too, there are many websites and organizations where you can donate money or raise support to help save these cats. One such website is http://www.defenders.org/jaguar/how-you-can-help . There you can symbolically "adopt" a jaguar and make donations to support their conservation, write a letter to your government leaders regarding the issue, stay informed on the issue and take a stand to ensure the Jaguars stay protected!