Conservation of Jaguar

Conservation of Jaguar

Project Animal(s) : Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Project Category : Mammals
Project Region : South America
Project Type : Conservation
Project URL : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=95
Project is timebound? : No

The jaguar is included in Appendix I of CITES and fully protected over much of its range. Hunting is prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. In Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru hunting is restricted and in Bolivia trophy hunting is permitted. The jaguar is not legally protected in Ecuador and Guyana.

Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs) are areas with a stable prey community, currently known or believed to contain a population of jaguars large enough to be potentially self-sustaining over the next 100 years; or areas containing fewer jaguars but with adequate habitat and a stable, diverse prey base, such that jaguar populations in the area could increase if threats were alleviated. Seventy-three JCUs have been identified from Mexico to Argentina.

The organisation Panthera has established a range wide “Jaguar Corridor Initiative” to link JCUs via corridors to ensure genetic exchange from north to south over the entire jaguar range. The key activities of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative involve:

  • capacity building and the formation of national jaguar teams in each range country;
  • ground truthing to identify the corridors; development and implementation of corridor action plans;
  • ecological and genetic research and monitoring to inform conservation efforts; development of national and local policy initiatives;
  • outreach to livestock owners to minimise conflict;
  • and the development and provision of multimedia materials for a variety of audiences.

Further conservation measures should include efforts to assess and manage wild prey populations so that jaguars are not forced to hunt livestock, the enhancement of livestock management due to the impact of retaliatory killing of jaguars, the improvement of law enforcement to protect jaguars and their prey, and the creation of protected areas and strategic plans.

 

 

Project Agency : Cat Specialist Group

Project Agency Contact : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=1

Additional Information :

http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=13