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Jaguar Conservation Program

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Jaguar Conservation Program INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR CONSERVATION PROGRAM CONSERVATION Highlights Total Area • 177.45 ha. • 437.37 acres Habitat Types • tropical broadleaf “Big Daddy” camera trapped 300 m. from the research station forest • stands of pine forest Jaguar Track The Jaguar Conservation Program is one Measurements in Belize component of the Global Carnivore Program Wildlife Present Jaguars and Peccaries in Birds Corcovado National Park, WCS in Belize • ocelated turkey Costa Rica The Chiquibul Forest Reserve contains a unique • scarlet macaw Monitoring Jaguars in the geologic formation: a granite bulge through a Mammals Cockscomb Basin, Belize limestone shelf, creating two distinct yet adjacent • jaguar Movements, Habitat and habitat types: dense tropical broadleaf forest on • puma Prey Relations of Jaguars limestone soils and relatively open pine forest on • ocelot in SE Sonora, Mexico granitic soils. While there has been selective logging • black howler monkey • jumping viper Jaguar-Livestock Conflict in the reserve, there has been no hunting for • fer de lance in NE Sonora, Mexico approximately 30 years. Wildlife abounds and is • Morelet’s crocodile fairly easy to spot in both habitat types, day or night. • Baird’s tapir Subsistence Hunting in This area is home to many rare species, most notably the Maya Biosphere Plants Reserve, Guatemala the jaguar, Morelet’s crocodile, tapir, and scarlet • mahogany macaw. • cedar Jaguar and Prey • orchids Monitoring in Belize • spiny palms The Human Aspect Borderlands Jaguar The Macal River valley in the Chiquibul Forest WCS Involvement Detection, Mexico/U.S. supports extensive wildlife and the surrounding area • since 1980 Livestock Depredation in the is well-known for the natural and ancient Mayan Pantanal, Brazil cultural attractions (1000 Foot Falls, Rio Frio cave and Caracol Ruin, to name a few). The beauty of the Jaguars and Cattle at the Rio Platano Biosphere area attracts thousands of nature visitors. Tourism, Beliz Reserve, Honduras especially ecotourism, is the number one industry in Mexico Belize. Numerous villages and hundreds of local Caribbean Sea Jaguar and their Prey, towns people gain economic benefit from tour Guatemala Belize guiding and sale of arts and crafts. • Human-Jaguar Conflict, Belize Guatemala Threats Community Outreach and Belize still has a relatively low population size and Education, U.S. most Belizeans have never been deep into the Jaguars on Private Lands, Chiquibul Forest. The Guatemalan border, however, Pacific Ocean Venezuela is only a stone’s throw away and illegal settlements routinely pop up in the reserve resulting in poaching Rancher Outreach Program, Central America Brazil Jaguars are the largest American felid and the least studied of all the great cat species. Contacts Marcella Kelly WCS Research Fellow Email: [email protected] Phone: 540.231.1734 Kathleen Conforti Program Manager Science and Exploration Email: [email protected] One of the few females photographed Phone: 718.220.2189 of wildlife and plant resources. The refugee stream, while slow, is steady For more information: and if unchecked could represent a serious threat to wildlife in the area. www.savethejaguar.com Additionally, international companies see profit in damming the Macal www.savingwildplaces.com River and this would dramatically alter the hydrology and human use of the Wildlife Conservation Society area. The proposed Chalillo Dam project is currently a hotly contested issue. International Conservation 2300 Southern Blvd. WCS Activities Bronx, N.Y. 10460 USA Jaguars are the largest American felid and least studied of all the great cat www.wcs.org species. A camera-trapping project is currently underway to determine Photography: densities of jaguars in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. Jaguar prey species Page 1: M.Kelly©WCS abundances are also being determined from capture rates allowing for an Page 2: M.Kelly©WCS ecological assessment of wildlife populations in the area. Preliminary work has suggested a high number of jaguars and prey species. Pumas and Mission ocelots are also abundant and research here aims to determine what factors The Wildlife Conservation Society’s International permit co-existence of top predators. Conservation program saves wildlife and wild lands by The Reserve is located within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. It is understanding and resolving across the Maya Mountain divide west of the Cockscomb Basin Sanctuary critical problems that threaten key species and large, wild where jaguar research is also being conducted. Through collaboration and ecosystems around the world. communication between the reserves, WCS hopes to develop a better understanding of ecological requirements and habitat use patterns of this WCS Strategies elusive carnivore. • Site-based conservation • Research • Training and capacity- Important Next Steps building · Expand camera-trapping survey and establish semi-permanent • New model development trapping grids for the purpose of obtaining baseline densities of • Informing policy jaguars from a relatively “healthy” population. • Linking zoo-based and · Conduct reconnaissance and surveys in the habitat surrounding the field-based conservation proposed Macal River dam site. · Examine the ecology of co-existence of competitive carnivores. wcs .
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