Everything You Should Know About
How the Jaguar is an Endangered Species
Description and Ecology of the Jaguar
What does the Jaguar look like?
The jaguar (panthera onca), listed endangered in 2012, is the
largest felid in the New World. Jaguars measure from the nose to the top of the
tail as five to eight feet, weighing in between 80 and 348 pounds. Males are 10
to 30 percent larger than females. Jaguars have a robust head, muscular body,
short limbs, and powerful chest, along with strong teeth and jaws and massive
skull. Their coat can be yellow, and red with a while throat, belly, and
inside limbs and dark blotches throughout.
What kind of species is the Jaguar?
In terms of the Jaguar's relationship to the ecosystem the following are things to know about how the species functions with its environment:
- Apex species: no known predators
- Keystone species: its effect on the ecosystem is disproportionate to its mass
- Flagship species: represents the preservation of an entire ecosystem
What is the Jaguar's breeding and gestation cycle?
Jaguars breed year-round throughout their ranges, though there is evidence of a breeding season on the southern and northern ends of their range. Gestation is 101 days with litters ranging from one to four cubs. Cubs remain with their mother of 1.5 to 2 years, with their sexual maturity ranging from 2 to 3 years and 3 to 4 years for females and males, respectively.
Geographic and Population Changes of the Jaguar
Where can you find the Jaguar?
The jaguar has a number of subspecies based on
physical characteristics. Of the eight subspecies, several include those
ranging from southern Sonora, Arizona; Guerrero, Mexico; the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec of Central America into Colombia, and throughout the Yucatan
Peninsula. As the largest cat in the Americas and the only continent it inhabits, the Jaguar currently lives in 70% of its original range. Major areas where range has decreased through "genetic bottlenecks" has been in the Colombian border of Central America through interruption of mobility and genetic divisions.
What kind of habitat does the Jaguar live in and how did it change?
The Jaguar lives in tropical moist forests, xeric shrub lands, tropical dry forests, grasslands, and savannas. The main cause for deforestation and the change of its land use has been the construction of infrastructure, logging, and mining. These advancements have led to the consequential decrease in the specie range and availability of natural prey. The Jaguar began to prey more on livestock and domestic animals which has caused it to become a target for cattle rancher shootings to protect their herds.
How has the Jaguar's range changed?
The range of the Jaguar has typically been extensive, travelling over 1,000 km.Because deforestation has led to the fragmentation of its range, jaguars have conserved their genetic integrity and avoided specialization. Its range has now been divided into 36 eco-regions, covering 19.1 square km in total. This covers various landscape characteristics such as tree and shrub cover, elevation, distance from roads and settlements, and human population density.
The following are the main areas identified as being high probability of survival for the Jaguar, which corresponds to amount of Jaguar concentration:
Listing Date and Type of Listing
The Jaguar was originally listed (62 FR 39147) as an endangered species from the United States to the Mexico border and southward including Central and South America. The species was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act (ESCA) in 1969 as both domestic and foreign species of concern. On July 25, 1970, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service published a notice stating that, although the jaguar was originally listed as endangered on the ESCA, it would be considered an oversight and not protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It would not be until July 22, 1997 (62 FR 39147) that endangered species status was extended to the ESA.
Currently, the population is estimated at 15,000 and only found in 19 of the 21 countries it at once inhabited (no longer in El Salvador and Uruguay).
Cause
of Listing and Main Threats to Its Continued Existence
Why did the Jaguar's population decrease?
Pelt trade, deforestation and habitat loss, hunting, and the loss of natural prey are the biggest causes for the decrease of the Jaguar population. In the 1960s to 1970s, skins were freely traded for profit within pet trade. In 1968, 18,000 skins were exported from Brazil to use as coats for luxury fashion. By the 1970s, over 15,000 skins were exported yearly to markets in Europe and in the United States. The CITES Convention of 1975 halted trade to stabilize the population. However, the same number of jaguars in the wild today is equivelent to the number that used to be killed yearly for their fur. In addition, the Jaguar has also been a victim for expensive pet trade as exotic pets within Central America.
What is the Jaguar's main threat to its existence?
The following are the main threats to the Jaguar's existence:
- Habitat Loss: Migration routes and habitat area and been destroyed from farms, ranches, mines, roads, towns, residential subdivisions, and border infrastructure.
- Poaching: Poachers prize the Jaguar from their unique spotted coats.
- Human Intolerance: Jaguars will occasionally prey on livestock, making them not popular among ranchers. Therefore, tolerance of the Jaguar is low, leading to additional killings.
Recovery Plan of the Jaguar:
Preliminary Actions:
- Document the presence of the Jaguar
- Assess the habitat quality
- Conduct studies on jaguar movement
- Put in place conservation tools such as a) protection of wildlife corridors, and b) reduce illegal killing of jaguars
- Reduce conflicts between jaguars and live stock
Research and Monitoring:
- Conduct surveys and consistent methods for each area
- Obtain gender and age estimates for dispersal rates and travel distances
- Characterize vegetation where jaguar prey occur
- Conduct research on subsistence hunting of jaguar prey species
Regulation & Enforcement:
- Mitigate human activity such as road development and mining
- Collaborate with partners to include the jaguar in their activities
Citations:
Preserving the Jaguar Geographic Ranges
https://sites.google.com/site/iemgec/final-project/mariana
Recovery Outline for the Jaguar
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/049777%20-%20Jaguar%20Recovery%20Outline%20-%20April%202012_2.pdf
Threats to Jaguars
http://www.defenders.org/jaguar/threats
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