Jaguar Ecology in an Ecotonal Region (Cerrado Grasslands-Amazon Forest)
The jaguar finds 48% of its geographical distribution in Brazil; nevertheless, there are only a few references of medium-term ecological studies dedicated to the species in this country.
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This study area includes the Cantão State Park (CSP) and surrounding ranchland, located in a tropical savannah-Amazon ecotone and subject to seasonal flooding. According to experts, this area is part of a large region with a crucial lack of data about jaguar population status and ecology. Camera trapping and radio-telemetry protocols were established in 2002 in order to determine the local jaguar ecology, it's population status as well as prey abundance and distribution. |
| So far a total of 19 individual jaguars have been identified within the Park’s area and an estimated 100 individuals are sought to be protected in this region. Current data, obtained through photographic indices, indicate that inside the Park jaguars and their major prey have suffered a decrease in abundance from 2003 to 2005, probably in response to a major flooding event in 2004 that covered a great portion of the Park’s 90,000 hectares. Adjacent to the Park, jaguar density was determined to be 5.11 individuals/100km². Abundance indices for 21 species of medium-large size mammals are being monitored in and around CSP. The importance of the CSP alone for jaguar conservation is questionable. Preliminary conclusions indicate that the Park’s surroundings formed by cattle ranchland are crucial for the long-term persistence of this jaguar population. This study is part of a PhD thesis at Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal, and one of Jaguar Conservation Fund’s study sites in Brazil. |
Biologist Nuno Negrões, Researcher of the Jaguar Conservation Fund / PhD candidate at Universidade de Aveiro - Portugal |
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