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Jaguar conservation in
a country as expansive as Brazil is a significant challenge.
There are three regional factors that require special
consideration in jaguar conservation strategies in order
to foster the greatest chance of achieving meaningful
success for species survival.
First, the varied and
frequently controversial interactions of jaguars with
people across the country have led to distinct human
perceptions and prejudices. For example, in some
areas there are deep-seeded legends which have created
a reputation of the jaguar as a deadly threat to people
and livelihood whereby it should be shot on sight. In
other regions, local people apply an almost spiritual
cultural respect for the cat and strive for suitable
ways to coexist with it. These powerful preconceptions
suggest that there is a need to vary and adapt multiple
management and conservation strategies depending on
the regional opinions and experiences of local people
toward the species.
Second, the jaguar is
a nationally protected endangered species in Brazil,
but it is virtually impossible to practice law enforcement
over ranchers that retaliate against jaguars suspected
of predating cattle. The vastness of jaguar range in
the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal regions, where privately
owned properties average around 15,000 hectares, prohibits
any practical law enforcement approaches. Most real
or alleged jaguar-human conflicts are solved by vigilante
killings that go unreported. With about 85% of Brazil’s
wilderness in private lands, conservationists will need
to employ creative tools such as compensation schemes
for cattle losses, or government incentives for maintaining
habitat suitable for jaguars, to sustain healthy jaguar
populations on these important lands.
Third, although there
is still an abundance of habitat favorable to jaguars
in the Amazon, and on a smaller scale in some portions
of the Pantanal, Brazil is witnessing an explosion of
anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and cattle
ranching which are drastically reducing jaguar populations
in key habitats such as the Cerrado, Caatinga and the
Atlantic Forest, the latter of which is on the verge
of extinction already. These compromised areas
still hold remnant populations of jaguars that will
be essential for the long-term survival of the cat,
and therefore they must not only be preserved, but they
must be connected with real conservation corridors protected
from non-compatible uses and unsustainable development.
Despite the many challenges
to the survival of the jaguar in Brazil, it is home
to half of the species’ current global distribution.
If jaguars are to thrive in the wild they will depend
heavily on this nation. With this in mind, long-term
comprehensive conservation strategies must be planned
and put into practice rapidly in Brazil. Without dramatic
and sustained conservation efforts for jaguars throughout
Brazil, this cat will eventually suffer the same level
of endangerment as other large cats such as cheetahs,
tigers and snow leopards.
The challenge before
the conservation community is to balance all perceptions
and attitudes towards the jaguar, and create an equilibrium
that can enable the species to thrive on private and
public lands, using metapopulation planning with conservation
corridors to ensure the future of the jaguar in Brazil.
This special issue of
Cat News will explore how researchers and conservationists
in Brazil are working to meet the three primary challenges
to regional jaguar conservation. I would like to thank
everyone who participated and collaborated with us on
this issue. Jaguar Conservation Fund owes special thank
to the Memphis Zoo, USA, for supporting this issue,
and the Monsanto Fund for the help with the organization
of the 1st workshop about Distribution, Management and
Conservation of the Jaugar in Brazil in 2007, for which
large parts of the data presented here were compiled.
I hope the articles in this issue can be an enhancement
to your own conservation efforts, but more importantly,
that you will be inspired to become part of the team
of global researchers, specialists, conservationists,
professionals, and volunteers devoted to protecting
this magnificent animal.
Leandro
Silveira, Ph.D
President
Jaguar Conservation Fund / Instituto Onça-Pintada
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