Habitat destruction threatens jaguars in a mixed land use region of eastern Bolivia

Abstract

Large carnivores such as the jaguar (Panthera onca) are particularly susceptible to population decline and local extinction as a result of habitat loss. Here, we report on the long-term monitoring of a local jaguar population in a mixed land use area in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia from March 2017 to December 2019. We recorded 15 jaguar individuals and four reproduction events (five offspring from three females), suggesting that our study area harbors a resident breeding population. Seven iterations of spatially explicit capture-recapture models provided density estimates ranging from 1.32 to 3.57 jaguars per 100 km². Jaguar capture rates were highest in forested areas, with few to no jaguar captures occurring in pastures used for livestock. Massive deforestation after the survey period reduced the proportion of dense forest cover by 33%, shrinking the availability of suitable jaguar habitat and placing the resident jaguar population at risk. We use the jaguar as an indicator species to highlight the threat of habitat destruction in the Chiquitano region and to emphasize the importance of intact forest patches for jaguar conservation.