Assessing the population status of jaguars, pumas and ocelots in the Green Corridor of Misiones, Argentina

DE ANGELO, CARLOS; PAVIOLO, AGUSTÍN; DI BITETTI, MARIO

San Francisco de Paula, RS, Brasil

Workshop; Status and conservation needs of the Neotropical Felids, International Conference and Workshop; 2005

South American Cats Conservation Alliance - IUCN Cat Specialist Group

We are collecting presence-absence data and carrying out camera-trap surveys to assess the population status of the three largest Neotropical felids (jaguars, Panthera onca, pumas, Puma concolor and ocelots Leopardus pardalis) in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest eco-region.  To collect presence-absence data we rely on a large-scale network of volunteers (200 collaborators) from Paraguay and Argentina.  Volunteers get training on how to collect and preserve feces and plaster molds of felid tracks and they receive a “jaguar kit”, a bag containing the materials needed to accomplish their task.  We are developing the techniques to differentiate species using the tracks and DNA recovered from the feces.  GIS techniques will be used to identify the factors affecting the felids presence in this fragmented landscape. Simultaneously, we are carrying out camera trap surveys to get density estimates of jaguars and ocelots and relative abundance estimates of pumas.  We have finished two surveys: 1) at a site that contains a portion of Urugua-í Provincial Park, the Urugua-í Private Reserve, and a property belonging to a timber company (where 21% of the area have been converted into pine plantations) and 2) at Iguazú National Park.  Our ocelot density estimates for the Green Corridor of Misiones are lower than estimates for other Neotropical sites but similar to Peter Crawshaw´s (1995) estimate for Iguazú using radio telemetry.  Our ocelot density estimate for Urugua-í (0.129 ± 0.032 individuals km-2) is lower than our estimate for Iguazú (0.191 ± 0.037 individuals km-2). We have evidence that pine plantations in the first site are responsible for the lower ocelot abundance.  Our jaguar density estimates (< 0.01 individuals km-2) are 5-9 times lower than Peter Crawshaw´s estimate.  We hypothesize that a recent drop in white-lipped peccaries abundance and an increase in habitat loss and jaguar killings are together responsible for this jaguar population decline.  We are presently implementing a survey at Yabotí Biosphere Reserve, where white-lipped peccaries are relatively abundant.