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Over nearly 12 years, we collected ticks from free-ranging jaguars (Panthera onca) and performed statistical analyses to comprehend the vector-host relationship throughout the seasons. We evaluated the presence and number of ticks, as well as their association with weight, age, and gender of captured jaguars in the Pantanal and Amazon biomes. Out of 100 captured jaguars (comprising 72 initial captures and 28 recaptures, with 41 females and 31 males), 77 were found to be infested by different tick species. We gathered a total of 1,002 ticks, categorized by the following species in descending order of abundance: Amblyomma sculptum, Amblyomma ovale, Rhipicephalus microplus, Amblyomma triste, Amblyomma cajennense sensu stricto, Amblyomma incisum, and Amblyomma spp. larvae. Apart from weight, statistical analysis indicated that age, gender and seasonality does not significantly affect the presence of different tick species in free ranging jaguars. Notably, A. sculptum adults were more abundant in the first semester, while A. sculptum nymphs and Amblyomma spp. larvae were mainly found during dry months, aligning with their expected life cycle stages. This is the first long-term study in jaguars to correlate seasonality and host factors and also the first time an adult of A. incisum is reported infesting a jaguar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identified individual jaguars from a database of camera-trap images collected in the Eastern Amazonian rainforest using the artificial intelligence software HotSpotter. We identified individuals from 131 of 217 images. Twenty-five different individuals were identified based on images of the left side. We compared our results with the results from an undergraduate study that manually identified 18 jaguar individuals from 53 images also used in the present study. One of the 18 individuals was found to be misclassified based on HotSpotter. We found HotSpotter to be useful in identifying individual jaguars in our study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jaguars carry deep cultural and spiritual significance throughout the Americas, from sports mascots to their associations with Indigenous deities to their veneration as a vulnerable and charismatic megafauna. Though thought to be extinct in the US for much of the twentieth century, they maintain a small but powerful presence along the US/México border region. The continued viability of these jaguar populations is severely threatened by the border walls that the US government has been working to erect since the early 2000s. By examining the entanglements between jaguar and border geographies on the one hand, and racially disposable migrants, Indigenous peoples, and racial capitalism on the other, this article argues that carceral configurations of nation-state borders, conservation, and immigration enforcement are incompatible with liberatory notions of human and nonhuman survival. It poses border abolition that takes seriously the nonhuman, vis-à-vis jaguars, is essential to making abolition geographies and ecologies within and beyond the US/México borderlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking habitat, depleted prey sources, and hunting increase conflict between humans and jaguars in Latin America. Participant observation was used for 131 open-ended interviews in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor of Costa Rica to describe and provide recommendations for Panthera's rancher outreach program. Changing husbandry practices is different than wanting to relocate jaguars or pumas, which suggests willingness to coexist is based on geo-physical proximities. Further, perceived attacks on livestock may be unreliable creating a perception of more predation, villainizing large felines, and challenging coexistence. This study urges wildlife managers to evaluate the effectiveness of relocation; suggests systematic recordkeeping of jaguar and puma attacks; encourages researchers to measure willingness to co-exist with large carnivores based on geo-physical distance; suggests strategies of coexistence may have both cultural and regional differences; and recommends a communication strategy through a citizen science approach, in order to educate ranchers and create social investment among communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted the first long-term and large-scale study of demographic characteristics and reproductive behavior in a wild jaguar (Panthera onca) population. Data were collected through a combination of direct observations and camera trapping on a study area that operates both as a cattle ranch and ecotourism destination. Jaguars exhibited two birth peaks: April/May and October/November, that are the end and the beginning of the wet season in the Pantanal, respectively. The average litter size was 1.43 ± 0.65. Single cubs made up a total of 65.7% of the births, and we found a slight predominance of females (1.15:1 ratio) in litters. The mean age at independence was 17.6 ± 0.98 months, with sex-biased dispersal, with all males (n = 27) leaving the natal home range and 63.6% of females exhibiting philopatry. The interbirth intervals were 21.8 ± 3.2 months and the mean age at first parturition was 31.8 ± 4.2 months. Our results estimated a lifetime reproductive success for female jaguars of 8.13 cubs. Our observations also indicate that female jaguars can display mating behavior during cub rearing or pregnancy, representing 41.4% of the consorts and copulations recorded. We speculate that this behavior has evolved as a defense against infanticide and physical harm to the female. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such behavior is described for this species. All aggressive interactions between females involved the presence of cubs, following the offspring–defense hypothesis, that lead to territoriality among females in mammals, regardless of food availability. In the face of growing threats to this apex predator, this work unveils several aspects of its natural history, representing a baseline for comparison with future research and providing critical information for population viability analysis and conservation planning in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous territories (ITs) are an integral component of global conservation strategies. We evaluate the range-wide overlap of ITs and the distribution of the jaguar (Panthera onca), a Neotropical apex predator with considerable cultural significance among Indigenous Peoples. We quantified overlap between protected areas (PAs) and ITs among: (1) jaguar range, (2) the species' core habitats, known as Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs), and (3) corridors connecting JCUs. We further evaluated deforestation rates between 2000 and 2020 among protected, unprotected, and indigenous portions of JCUs and corridors and compared jaguar density estimates among these land tenures. Our results indicate that ITs overlap 27.7% of jaguar range. South American JCUs and corridors, which comprise ~ 94% of jaguar distribution, experienced significantly less deforestation where ITs intersected PAs. We documented an unbalanced ratio of jaguar density estimates between indigenous and non-indigenous areas, highlighting the need for more representative sampling. Collaborative approaches for jaguar conservation, informed and guided by indigenous knowledge, can support more inclusive and effective monitoring that reduces dependence on external support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: When the production of antipredator behaviors is costly, prey is expected to stop displaying such behaviors and lose the ability to recognize extirpated predators. However, the loss or maintenance of predator recognition abilities is conditional on the eco-evolutionary context of prey. Here, we examined the behavioral responses of naïve and experienced mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) to simulated acoustic cues from natural predators., Methods: We studied experienced individuals in the Uxpanapa Valley and naïve individuals in Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, México). Jaguars (Panthera onca) and harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja), the main predators of howler monkeys, are extant in the Uxpanapa Valley but have been extirpated in Los Tuxtlas for approximately 70 and 45 years, respectively. We exposed six naïve and six experienced groups to playbacks of acoustic stimuli from the two predators and a non-predator control species (plain chachalacas, Ortalis vetula), and recorded the latency, frequency, and duration of antipredation behaviors (n = 127 trials)., Results: In contrast with experienced mantled howler monkeys, naïve subjects did not respond to trials from harpy eagles. However, response patterns were generally similar between naïve and experienced individuals when exposed to jaguar stimuli., Discussion: Our findings suggest that naïve mantled howler monkeys do not recognize harpy eagle calls, but they respond to jaguar calls in a manner consistent with experienced individuals. These results illustrate how different mechanisms for the recognition of extirpated predators operate within a single species according to evolutionary and ecological experience., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

A small mammalian fauna is recorded from Extinction Cave (also called Sibun Cave), east of Belmopan, on the Sibun River, Belize, Central America. The animals recognized are armadillo ([dagger]Dasypus bellus), American lion ([dagger]Panthera atrox), jaguar (Panthera onca), puma or mountain lion (Puma concolor), Florida spectacled bear ([dagger]Tremarctos floridanus), javelina or collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), llama (Camelidae indet., [dagger]?Palaeolama mirifica), red brocket deer (Mazama americana), bison (Bison sp.) and Mexican half-ass ([dagger]Equus conversidens); sabre-toothed cat ([dagger]Smilodon fatalis) may also be represented. '[dagger]' indicates an extinct taxon. Bear and bison are absent from the region today. The bison record is one of the more southerly known. The bear record is almost the most westerly known and a first for Central America. Key words: fauna, Rancholabrean, Wisconsinian, Dasypus bellus, Homo sapiens, Panthera atrox, Puma concolor, Panthera onca, Smilodon, Tremarctos floridanus, Pecari tajacu, Palaeolama mirifica, Mazama americana, Bison sp., Equus conversidens, ecology. Un petit assemblage de mammifères est observé dans Extinction Cave (aussi appelée Sibun Cave), à l'est de Belmopan, sur la rivière Sibun (Belize, Amérique centrale). Les animaux identifiés sont un tatou ([croix]Dasypus bellus), le lion des cavernes ([croix]Panthera atrox), le jaguar (Panthera onca), le couguar (Puma concolor), l'ours à lunettes de Floride ([croix] Tremarctos floridanus), le pécari à collier (Pecari tajacu), un lama (Camelidae indet., [croix]?Palaeolama mirifica), le daguet rouge (Mazama americana), des bisons (Bison sp.) et l'hémione du Mexique ([croix]Equus conversidens); le félin à dents de sabre ([croix]Smilodonfatalis) pourrait également y être représenté. Le symbole <> indique un taxon disparu. Les ours et les bisons sont aujourd'hui absents de la région. La présence de bisons est une des plus méridionales connues. Celle d'ours est presque la plus occidentale connue et la première en Amérique centrale. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : assemblage, Rancholabréen, Wisconsinien, Dasypus bellus, Homo sapiens, Panthera atrox, Puma concolor, Panthera onca, Smilodon, Tremarctos floridanus, Pecari tajacu, Palaeolama mirifica, Mazama americana, Bison sp., Equus conversidens, écologie., Introduction Extinction Cave is the first Rancholabrean faunal deposit to be reported from Belize. It links the Belizean Rancholabrean mammalian fauna to that of Mexico and Guatemala and shows that [...]