‘Green corridor’ plan lifts jaguar numbers

Guacurarí, a wild jaguar whose killing by hunters in a protected area in 2012 spurred jaguar conservation efforts in Argentina’s Misiones Province. (Photo by Diego Varela/CelBA)

When biologist Mario Di Bitetti began his research in the northeast Argentine province of Misiones three decades ago, he focused on the mono caí (Sapajus nigritus), a monkey that is common in the region. But on his tramps through the Misiones portion of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest, a biodiverse ecoregion of South America’s once-massive, now highly fragmented Atlantic Forest, he couldn’t help noticing the tracks of a far larger animal—the jaguar (Panthera onca). Initially, the large cat’s tracks appeared quite common, indicating a healthy population, but over the years they became increasingly rare—and little research was being done to pinpoint the causes. “Although there is not much information, it is evident that different factors contributed to a decline in the [jaguar] population starting in the late 1990s,” says Di Bitteti, who switched his research focus to jaguar conservation in 2001. “One was the rapid disappearance, perhaps... Read more →