Jaguar persistence in fragments of the Atlantic Coastal Forest

Ja g uar pe r s i ste nce in f r a gments of the Atlantic
C o a stal Forest, southeastern B r a zil
Renata Leite Pitman1, Marcelo Mazzolli 2
1Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation/Instituto Procarnivoros/WildCRU
2Projeto Puma
Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Forest is the second most endangered tropical forest in the world and only 5% of this
ecosystem remains. Although 30% of this ecosystem is inside protected areas, only paper protects most of them and
there are people and domestic animals living inside. The largest and best protected tract of the Atlantic Coastal Forest
is found in southeastern Brazil, where the jaguar population was surveyed by the presence of tracks and scats during
1995-1997, giving a rough estimate of 1 jaguar per 100 km2, and revealing local extinction of the species in some areas
(e.g., Superagui National Park). The expectation made based on those surveys was that the jaguar population would
not persist for the next 10 years. However, surveys realized 10 years later (2006) show that jaguars still persist in the
area. We show that during these 10 years other protected areas were created in the region, protection of existing
protected areas was strengthened. These measures might be responsible for the persistence of jaguars in the area but
are unlikely to be enough to ensure jaguar survival if specific measures are not implemented.
Jaguar population
(200+/-85 ind)
remaining in the
Atlantic Coastal Forest
(1998)
Ten years ago it was difficult to imagine how such a
low population density of jaguars (sign frequency of
0.15/day) under strong different pressures (hunting,
competition, diseases and habitat loss) would
survive over the next decade. But they did. Mazzolli
and Hammer (2006) visited the region I worked 10
years ago to find that Jaguar’s still inhabit this
region, but in densities 5 times lower than 10 years
ago. During this time frame, 10 new protected areas
were created at the region (see box below), other
expanded and/or have the protection status
reinforced. However the regional increment of
protected areas, wasn’ t enough to avoid the
dramatic population decline observed. Hunting
towards jaguar prey still persist and there is no
official control of diseases on domestic animals,
specially domestic dogs. As last measures to avoid
the expected extinction of the species in the region,
if that still possible, immediate action is need
towards hunting, diseases control, and creation of
new corridors that links this population to others.
New areas are shown with a red outline
13 new protected areas
created over the last 10 years
Protected Area
Area (ha)
Pau Oco State Park
881
Roberto Ribas Lange State Park
2802
Rio da Onca State Park
117
Pico Marumbi State Park
2388
Serra da Baitaca State Park
3053
Ilha do Mel State Park
395
Pico Parana State Park
4333
Serra do Mar Environment Protection Area
66869
Palmito State Forest
535
Rio Irai Environment Protection Area
11030
Piraquara Environment Protection Area
9133
Rio Pequeno Environment Protection Area
7159
Metropolitana State Forest
281
Total
108976
REFERENCES
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Conservacion del jaguar en las áreas protegidas del bosque atlantico de la
costa de Brasil. pp. 25-42. and
Leite, M .R . P ., and Ga l vão, F. 2002. El ja g u a r, el pu m a y el h o m br e
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