The jagur

The jagur is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. With a body length of up to 1.85 m and weight of up to 158 kg, it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Its distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered by spot that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. The Jaguar’s powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to empoly an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal below to the brain. The modern Jaguar’s ancestors probably entered the Americas from Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene via the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Stait. Today, the Jaguar’s range extends from the Southwestern United States across Mexico and much of Central America, the Amazon rainforest and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. It inhabits a variety of forested and terrains, but it preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest, wetlands and wooded region. It is adept at swimming and is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush apex predator. As a keystone species, it plays an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and in regulating prey populations.

The jaguar is threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, poaching for trade with its body part and killing in human- wildlife conflict situations, particularly with rancher in Central and South America. It has listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The wild population is though to have declined since the late 1990s. Priority areas for jaguar conservation comprise 51 Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUc), defined as large areas in habited by at least 50 breeding jaguars. The JCUs are located in 36 geographic regions ranging from Mexico to Argentina.

The jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of indigenous people of the Americas, including those of the Aztec and Maya civilizations. Results of mitochondrial DNA analysis of 37 jaguars indicate that current population evolved between 510,000 and 280,000 years ago in northern South America and subsequently recolonized North and Central America after the extinction of jaguars there during the Late Pleistocene. The jaguar is threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat illegal killing in retaliation for livestock depredation and for illegal trade in jagur body parts. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002,as jaguar population has probably declined by 20–25% since the mid-1990s. Deforestation is a major threat to the jaguar across its range. Habitat loss was most rapid in drier regions such as the Argentine pampas, the arid grasslands of Mexico and the southwestern United States.The jaguar is listed on CITES Appendix I, which means that all international commercial trade in jaguars or their body parts is prohibited. Hunting jaguars is prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States, and Venezuela. Hunting jaguars is restricted in Guatemala and Peru. In Ecuador, hunting jaguars is prohibited, and it is classified as threatened with extinction.Jaguar Conservation Units

In 1999, field scientists from 18 jaguar range countries determined the most important areas for long-term jaguar conservation based on the status of jaguar population units, stability of prey base and quality of habitat. These areas, called “Jaguar Conservation Units” (JCUs), are large enough for at least 50 breeding individuals and range in size from 566 to 67,598 km2 (219 to 26,100 sq mi); 51 JCUs were designated in 36 geographic regions including

the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra de Tamaulipas in Mexico

the Selva Maya tropical forests extending over Mexico, Belize and Guatemala

the Choco–Darien moist forests from Honduras and Panama to Colombia

Venezuelan Llanos

northern Cerrado and Amazon basin in Brazil

Tropical Andes in Bolivia and Peru

Misiones Province in Argentina

Optimal routes of travel between core jaguar population units were identified across its range in 2010 to implement wildlife corridors that connect JCUs. These corridors represent areas with the shortest distance between jaguar breeding populations, require the least possible energy input of dispersing individuals and pose a low mortality risk. They cover an area of 2,600,000 km2 (1,000,000 sq mi) and range in length from 3 to 1,102 km (1.9 to 684.8 mi) in Mexico and Central America and from 489.14 to 1,607 km (303.94 to 998.54 mi) in South America.In setting up protected reserves, efforts generally also have to be focused on the surrounding areas, as jaguars are unlikely to confine themselves to the bounds of a reservation, especially if the population is increasing in size. Human attitudes in the areas surrounding reserves and laws and regulations to prevent poaching are essential to make conservation areas effective.

To estimate population sizes within specific areas and to keep track of individual jaguars, camera trapping and wildlife tracking telemetry are widely used, and feces are sought out with the help of detection dogs to study jaguar health and diet.Conservationists and professionals in Mexico and the United States have established the 56,000 acres (23,000 ha) Northern Jaguar Reserve in northern Mexico. Advocacy for reintroduction of the jaguar to its former range in Arizona and New Mexico have been supported by documentation of natural migrations by individual jaguars into the southern reaches of both states, the recency of extirpation from those regions by human action, and supportive arguments pertaining to biodiversity, ecological, human, and practical considerations.