Densities And Perceptions Of Jaguars In Coastal Nayarit, Mexico

Keywords

capture–recapture; density estimation; mangroves; México; Nayarit; Panthera onca; perceptions; spatially explicit

Abstract

Conservation of large carnivores will require greater analyses of population parameters, habitat use, and distribution in multiuse landscapes as human populations increase and agriculture expands. We used Bayesian spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) models and completed 82 interviews in 24 localities over 4 field seasons from April 2009 to March 2013 to estimate densities and assess residents’ perceptions of jaguars (Panthera onca) in the San Blas Municipality within the southern Marismas Nacionales ecosystem in Nayarit, Mexico. Camera traps accumulated 90 detections of 9 jaguars (2 M, 5 F, and 2 individuals of unknown sex) in a 194-km2 area during 1,575 trap-nights from April to June 2010. We detected jaguars at 16 of the 27 camera-trap sites and calculated a density estimate of 2.04 (SE = 0.45) individuals/100 km2 using the SECR method. This is one of the first studies to use SECR models for jaguar density estimation and 1 of only 2 studies throughout jaguar distribution to estimate population parameters of the species where human population densities reach >50 people/km2. Future studies in this unique landscape should focus on jaguar status in the northern stretches of the Marismas Nacionales and research the mechanisms that may allow this large carnivore to persist in altered landscapes among human population densities greater than previously believed to be tolerable by the species. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

Publication Date

9-1-2016

Publication Title

Wildlife Society Bulletin

Volume

40

Issue

3

Number of Pages

506-513

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.686

Socpus ID

84987864207 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84987864207

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