Critical population status of the jaguar Panthera onca in the Argentine Chaco: camera-trap surveys suggest recent collapse and imminent regional extinction.

QUIROGA, VERONICA; BOAGLIO, GABRIEL; NOSS, ANDREW; DI BITTETI, MARIO

ORYX

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2014 vol. 48 p. 141 - 148

0030-6053

The population of jaguars Panthera onca in the semi-arid Chaco Province is the least well-known in Argentina. Its status in the region is described only frominterviews that confirmed its presence until 2003. To update information on the distribution and population densityof this species we undertook three camera-trap surveys,combined with searches for sign, at sites across latitudinaland protection gradients, and 156 interviews with localinhabitants across three larger areas. The camera-trap siteswere located in areas with the highest density of records inthe Argentine Chaco: Copo National Park (1,204 trap days,24 stations, 344 km of transects), Aborigen Reserve (1,993trap days, 30 stations, 251 km of transects) and El Cantor(2,129 trap days, 35 stations, 297 km of transects). We did notobtain any photographs of jaguars. We recorded very fewjaguar tracks, and only in the Aborigen Reserve (n53) andEl Cantor (n51). The map of distribution points confirmedthrough interviews suggests that the jaguar range has notchanged significantly in the past 10 years; however, thecamera-trap and sign surveys suggest that densities areextremely low. Before our study the Chaco population wasthought to be the largest in Argentina. This perceptionwas incorrect: the Chaco jaguar population is the mostthreatened in the country. Systematic, intensive studies areessential to provide the necessary information for decisionmakingfor the management and conservation of threatenedspecies.