Jaguar Panthera onca in its southernmost range: use of a corridor between Bolivia and Argentina

Abstract

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 26:167-177 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00640 Jaguar Panthera onca in its southernmost range: use of a corridor between Bolivia and Argentina Griet An Erica Cuyckens1,2,*, Fernando Falke3, Lisanne Petracca4 1Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), Buenos Aires, Argentina 2Centro de Estudios Territoriales Ambientales y Sociales (CETAS), Alberdi 47, 4600 San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina 3Red Yaguareté, Los Toldos s/calle, 4531 Salta, Argentina 4Panthera, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA *Corresponding author: grietcuyckens@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: Corridors can prevent local extinction of particular species by connecting populations and are crucial for the long-term conservation of large animals and species with large home-ranges such as jaguars. To assess the functionality of the proposed Tariquía-Baritú corridor between Bolivia and Argentina, we used the jaguar as a focal species. We conducted 254 interviews with local residents in 103 of 117 sampling units (each 36 km2) from November 2009 to February 2012, regarding the presence of the jaguar Panthera onca and 6 prey species: the white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, collared peccary Pecari tajacu, red brocket deer Mazama americana, gray brocket deer Mazama gouazoubira, capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris and agouti Dasyprocta punctata. We applied site occupancy modeling using environmental co-variables. Sampling units effective for jaguar and for the future of the corridor were selected based on having a minimum 65% likelihood that the jaguar and at least 4 of 6 prey species use habitat within that unit. The final corridor was 3168 km2 and encompassed 88 of the sampling units, suggesting that connectivity still exists between Tariquía Reserve and Baritú National Park and, therefore, that this corridor qualifies for long-term conservation. Changes in human land use, direct hunting and the presence of a route bisecting the study area are considered the main threats to the future of the corridor. Corridors are an effective conservation measure but must be accompanied by other conservation solutions. KEY WORDS: Connectivity · Conservation planning · Detection probability · Interviews · Occupancy · Prey Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Cuyckens GAE, Falke F, Petracca L (2014) Jaguar Panthera onca in its southernmost range: use of a corridor between Bolivia and Argentina. Endang Species Res 26:167-177. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00640 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 26, No. 2. Online publication date: December 10, 2014 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.