Download PPT - Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Jaguar
Presented by: Matt Barker
Origins
• Jaguar forerunners
– Early Pliestocene
– Beringia
– Descendent of Old
World cats
Origins
• “Yaguar”
– “He who kills with one
leap”
• “Tiger”
• “Panther”
Classification
• Animalia
• Chordata
• Mammalia
• Carnivora
• Felidae
• Panthera
• onca
Subspecies
• Eight subspecies described (Pocock 1939)
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P. o. onca
P. o. peruviana
P. o. hernandesii
P. o. centralis
P. o. arizonensis
P. o. veraecrucis
P. o. goldmani
P. o. palustris
• Validity questioned (Larson 1997, Eizirik et al.
2001, Ruiz-Garcia et al. 2006)
Distribution
• Currently occupies
~46% of historic range
• Extripated from Chile, El
Salvador, Uruguay
Legal Status
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
– Near Threatened
• CITES
– Appendix I
• US Endangered Species Act
– Endangered
– Jaguar Recovery Plan: till 2008, 2010
Value
• Historical
– Mesoamericans
• Aztec
– Jaguar Warriors
• Maya
– God L
• Olmec
– Were-jaguar
Value
• Historical
– Hunting/Fur trade
• Last harvest in US:
– TX 1948
• CITES 1973
• Poaching/Black market
Value
• Modern
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Ecotourism
Umbrella species
Scientific
Aesthetic
Cultural
Physical Characteristics
• Short and stocky build,
large feet, short
rounded ears
– Length
• 1.5 to 1.8 m (5-6 ft.)
– Height
• 0.63 to 0.76 m(25-30 in.)
– Weight
• 56 to 96 kg (124-211 lb.)
• Females 10-20% smaller
Physical Characteristics
• Broad powerful skull
• Canines are similar to
lions and tigers
(Christiansen 2007)
– Large and not very
conical
Physical Characteristics
• Pelage
– Pale yellow to reddish
yellow with black
rosettes
– Spots merge on middorsum forming irregular
black line
– Whitish underbelly with
interspersed spots
Physical Characteristics
• Pelage
– Melanistic
• Development of dark
pigment melanin in skin
or fur
– MC1R gene (Eizirik 2003)
ID that cat
Survival & Longevity
• Estimated 12-15 year
lifespan
– 23 years in captivity
Reproduction
• Sexual maturity
– Females: 2-3 years,
Males: 3-4 years
• Year-round mating
– Seasonal peaks
• Births increase with
prey abundance
• Multiple males will
pursue same female
Reproduction
• Polyestrous
• 93-105 day gestation
• Up to four cubs,
commonly two
• Denning
Recruitment
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Infantcide
Born blind
~800g (1.7 lb.) at birth
Cubs weaned 1.5-2
years
• Disperse
– Males: ~30km
– Females: ~8km
Activity and Movement
• Highest amount of
activity at dusk and
dawn (crepuscular), less
during day (Cavalcanti
2009)
– Wet season more active
in day
• Excellent swimmers
Activity and Movement
• Home range size varies
– Female
• Wet: 57.1±26.2 km2
• Dry: 69.1±28.7 km2
– Male
• Wet: 152±79.1 km2
• Dry: 170.8±97.3 km2
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• Female range fidelity
• Male overlap
– Land-tenure system
Diet
• More than 85 species of prey items
– Fish, birds, iguanas, turtles, armadillos, tapirs,
peccaries, crocodilians, howler monkeys, brocket
deer, anteaters, sloths, agouties, capybaras, etc.
• Adapted for large, slow prey
• Dependent on availability and disturbance
– Some selection
– Collared peccaries (Weckel 2006)
Feeding Habits
• Stalk and ambush
• Target base of skull or
braincase
• Will follow prey herds
(Mendes 2007)
• http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=DBNYwxDZ
_pA#t=1m01s
Socialization
• Males solitary
– Sometime pair
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Mother-cub groups
Scrapes, urine, feces
Roars
Grooming and wrestling
Playing
Reproductive Behaviors
• Urinary scent marks
• Separation from males
• Mother parenting
Interspecific interactions
• Pumas
– Interspecific segregation
(Harmsen 2009)
– Hybrids (captivity)
• Coyotes
• Tapir trails
Competition
• Humans
– Subsistence hunting of
natural prey
– Other game species
• Caiman
• Turtles
– ~27% of range has
depleted prey base
Predators
• No true predators
– Anacondas?
• Intraspecific killings
• Humans
Human Interactions
• Livestock depredation
– Reduction of natural
prey
– Ease of predation
– Rainfall (Cavalcanti 2010)
Human Interactions
• Case Study (SotoShoender 2011)
– Petén District of
Guatemala
– Jaguars accused 78.9%
of the time
– During 5 year period,
$14,736 US lost to
carnivores
• 0.7% of all cattle
• Negligible to other losses
(black-leg, snake bites)
Human Interactions
• Habitat loss and
fragmentation
– Human settlements,
logging, ranching,
agriculture
– Movement
• Dispersal
• Gene flow
– Prey abundance
Population dynamics
• 2.4-8.8 adults per 100
km2
• Camera traps can
overestimate
abundance
Harvest
• Heavily hunted
between 1960-70
– ~18,000/year
– CITES 1973
• Modern hunting
– Predator control
– Fear
– Threat to livelihood
• Poaching
– ~$3,000 US/pelt
Disease & Parasites
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Tungiasis
Ticks
Canine distemper
Feline leukemia
Feline coronavirus
– Feline infectious peritonitis
(FIP)
• Feline immunodeficiency
virus (FIV)
• Dental fractures
Weather
• Dry v. Wet Seasons
– Water rise up to 3m in
some areas
Starvation & Malnutrition
• Tooth decay/fractures
• Poor quality prey items
– 1-3 day sustinence
– Armadillo, paca (Weckel
2006)
Habitat
• Broad habitat use
– Scrub, chaparral, oak, oakpine, tropical deciduous
and evergreen forests*,
semidesert, grasslands,
swamps
• Associated with water
and dense vegetation
• Both sexes prefer tall
forest; Males likely to
enter low-intensity cattle
ranches and agriculture
(Conde 2010)
Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forest
Swamp (Pantanal)
Chaparral
Sonaran desert scrub
Agricultural/Ranch Lands
Population Management
• Reduce predator control and poaching
• Improve gene flow
– Translocations
– Reintroductions
Habitat Management
• Purchase and protection of lands
• Cooperating with landowners
– 95% of range
• Restoration
• Inclusion of water buffalo, horses, donkeys with
cattle
Habitat Management
• Jaguar Corridor
Initiative
– Argentina to Mexico
Habitat Management
• Pantanal Project
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Panthera
Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia
Rancher focus
Education programs
Increase ecotourism
Private/public lands
Partnered with CENAP
Population Outlook
• Declining, but hopeful
• Positive life history
traits
– Opportunistic feeder
– Wide habitat use
– Overlapping ranges
• Changing public
perceptions (Campbell
2011)
Needed Management
• Continue working with landowners to set
aside lands and establish corridors
• Reduce hunting and poaching
• Education programs and ecotourism
• Restore habitat and prey base
• Get a better understanding of life history
parameters (survival, recruitment, r, K)
Current Event
Should we preserve land with knowledge of only a few dispersing individuals?
Is reintroduction viable? Landscape changes needed?
How to deal with maintaining corridors (US/Mexico border wall)?
How to change perceptions of landowners/ranchers?
Citations
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Demarais, Stephen, and Paul R. Krausman. 2000. Ecology and Management of Large Mammals in North America. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Caso, A., Lopez-Gonzalez, C., Payan, E., Eizirik, E., de Oliveira, T., Leite-Pitman, R., Kelly, M. & Valderrama, C. 2008. Panthera onca. In:
IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 October 2013.
Eizirik, E., Yuhki, N., Johnson, W. E., Menotti-Raymond, M., Hannah, S. S., O'Brien, S. J. 2003. Molecular Genetics and Evolution of
Melanism in the Cat Family. Current Biology 13 (5): 448–453.
Christiansen, Per. 2007. Canine Morphology In The Larger Felidae: Implications For Feeding Ecology. Biological Journal Of The Linnean
Society 91.4: 573-592.
Cavalcanti, Sandra M. C., and Eric M. Gese. 2009. Spatial Ecology And Social Interactions Of Jaguars (Panthera Onca) In The Southern
Pantanal, Brazil. Journal Of Mammalogy 90.4: 935-945.
Weckel, M., W. Giuliano, and S. Silver. 2006. Jaguar ( Panthera Onca) Feeding Ecology: Distribution Of Predator And Prey Through Time
And Space. Journal Of Zoology 270.1: 25-30.
Harmsen, Bart J., et al. 2009. Spatial And Temporal Interactions Of Sympatric Jaguars (Panthera Onca) And Pumas (Puma Concolor) In A
Neotropical Forest. Journal Of Mammalogy 90.3: 612-620.
Harmsen, Bart J., et al. 2010. Scrape-Marking Behavior Of Jaguars (Panthera Onca) And Pumas (Puma Concolor). Journal Of Mammalogy
91.5: 1225-1234.
Furtado, M. M., and C. Filoni. 2008. Diseases and their role for jaguar conservation. Cat News 4:35–40.
Conde, Dalia A., et al. 2010. Sex Matters: Modeling Male And Female Habitat Differences For Jaguar Conservation. Biological
Conservation 143.9: 1980-1988.
Cavalcanti, Sandra M. C., and Eric M. Gese. 2010. Kill Rates And Predation Patterns Of Jaguars (Panthera Onca) In The Southern
Pantanal, Brazil. Journal Of Mammalogy 91.3: 722-736.
Soto-Shoender, José R., and William M. Giuliano. 2011. Predation On Livestock By Large Carnivores In The Tropical Lowlands Of
Guatemala. Oryx 45.4: 561-568.
Pontes, A. R. Mendes, and D. J. Chivers. 2007. Peccary Movements As Determinants Of The Movements Of Large Cats In Brazilian
Amazonia. Journal Of Zoology 273.3: 257-265.
Campbell, Michael O'Neal, and Maria Elena Torres Alvarado. 2011. Public Perceptions Of Jaguars Panthera Onca, Pumas Puma Concolor
And Coyotes Canis Latrans In El Salvador. Area 43.3: 250-256.