IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Galvan, J.A.V. | |
| Distribution and conservation status of the jaguar (_Panthera onca_) in San Luis Potosi, Mexico | |
| 2009 Full Book | |
The range of the jaguar (_Panthera onca_) in Mexico has decreased due to illegal hunting, loss of prey, and loss of habitat. No surveys of jaguar presence have been conducted in San Luis Potosi (SLP) since 1953 despite potentially suitable habitat in the Sierra Madre Oriental. We conducted 22 field surveys, including interviews of local officials, residents, landowners, and hunters from 42 communities, and track surveys in the area around each location of a jaguar record in the Huasteca Region of the Sierra Madre Oriental of SLP from May 2006 to March 2008. We obtained 28 recent records comprising a minimum of 12 individual jaguars and 6 historic records of jaguars. Of them, 27 records were Class I and 7 Class II for a total of 34. Jaguar presence was recorded in oak forest (31.1% of records), tropical deciduous forest (28.1%), cloud forest (12.5%), tropical forest (12.5%), piedmont scrub (9.4%), pine-oak forest (3.1%), and along a border between a sugar cane plantation and tropical forest (3.1%). Locations of the records ranged from 150 to 2,400 m in elevation. The geographical distribution of jaguar in SLP ranged from 21ø52ï to 22ø30ï in latitude and from 99ø34ï to 99ø10ï in longitude, and was primarily associated with the Gran Sierra Plegada sub-province of the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra del Abra Tanchipa. We built a potential habitat map using MaxEnt model which produces a modeled species distribution with relative probabilities of occurrence between 0 and 100. These values represent the ideal habitat for the specie according to the environmental and climatological variables considered for the analysis. Given the number of records found and quality of the remaining habitat, the Sierra Madre Oriental in SLP should be considered as a high priority for long-term jaguar conservation in Mexico. |
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