Jaguars from the Brazilian Pantanal: Low genetic structure, male-biased dispersal, and implications for long-term conservation

Kantek, Daniel Luis Zanella; Trinca, Cristine Silveira; Tortato, Fernando Rodrigo; Devlin, Allison L.; Azevedo, Fernando César Cascelli de; Cavalcanti, Sandra M. C.; Silveira, Leandro; Miyazaki, Selma Samiko; Crawshaw, Peter G.; May-Júnior, Joares Adenílson; Fragoso, Carlos; Sartorello, Leonardo; Rampim, Lilian Elaine; Haberfeld, Mario; Araújo, Gediendson Ribeiro de; Morato, Ronaldo Gonçalves; Eizirik, Eduardo

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109153

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…According to our analyses, there is a sex-biased dispersal in jaguars, with females being predominately philopatric and males performing dispersal outside of their natal home range, as suggested by other studies ( Crawshaw and Quigley 1991 ; Bernal-Escobar et al 2015 ; Kantek et al 2021 ). This male-biased dispersal may have evolved as a mechanism of inbreeding avoidance, as male jaguars do not establish their territories close to females that they are related to, decreasing the chances of inbreed mating that would reduce the genetic variability of the population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Approximately 84% of the natural vegetation of the Pantanal is still intact ( MapBiomas 2020 ). The Pantanal harbors one of the largest remaining, contiguous jaguar populations ( Soisalo and Cavalcanti 2006 ; Kantek et al 2021 ). Besides jaguars, this floodplain also harbors healthy populations of iconic and threatened species such as hyacinth macaw ( Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus ), giant anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ), tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ), marsh deer ( Blastocerus dichotomus ), white-lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari ), and pampas deer ( Ozotoceros bezoarticus ; Tomas et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unveiling demographic and mating strategies ofPanthera oncain the Pantanal, Brazil

Fragoso¹,

Rampim²,

Quigley

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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We conducted the first long-term and large-scale study of demographic characteristics and reproductive behavior in a wild jaguar (Panthera onca) population. Data were collected through a combination of direct observations and camera trapping on a study area that operates both as a cattle ranch and ecotourism destination. Jaguars exhibited two birth peaks: April/May and October/November, that are the end and the beginning of the wet season in the Pantanal, respectively. The average litter size was 1.43 ± 0.65. Single cubs made up a total of 65.7% of the births, and we found a slight predominance of females (1.15:1 ratio) in litters. The mean age at independence was 17.6 ± 0.98 months, with sex-biased dispersal, with all males (n = 27) leaving the natal home range and 63.6% of females exhibiting philopatry. The interbirth intervals were 21.8 ± 3.2 months and the mean age at first parturition was 31.8 ± 4.2 months. Our results estimated a lifetime reproductive success for female jaguars of 8.13 cubs. Our observations also indicate that female jaguars can display mating behavior during cub rearing or pregnancy, representing 41.4% of the consorts and copulations recorded. We speculate that this behavior has evolved as a defense against infanticide and physical harm to the female. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such behavior is described for this species. All aggressive interactions between females involved the presence of cubs, following the offspring–defense hypothesis, that lead to territoriality among females in mammals, regardless of food availability. In the face of growing threats to this apex predator, this work unveils several aspects of its natural history, representing a baseline for comparison with future research and providing critical information for population viability analysis and conservation planning in the long term.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling demographic and mating strategies ofPanthera oncain the Pantanal, Brazil

Fragoso¹,

Rampim²,

Quigley

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…Yet even the 2019 sex ratio (like any sex ratio estimate using similar methodology) is potentially biased by known sex-specific differences in jaguars. It is assumed that males are more frequently caught in camera traps, as they have larger territories, are more mobile (Crawshaw & Quigley, 1991;McBride & Thompson, 2018), and are more likely to disperse over greater distances (Kantek et al, 2021), causing a general bias towards capturing male jaguars. Little is known about reproduction in wild jaguars, but our survey provides some insights.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Meißner¹,

Blumer²,

Weiß³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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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.

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“…Grimwood (1969) pointed out that during the 60s, jaguars disappeared from areas surrounding human settlements and were considered rare throughout the Peruvian amazon. Due to the jaguar's biological characteristics, including slow reproduction rate and long generation time (Kantek et al, 2021;van de Kerk, de Kroon, Conde, & Jongejans, 2013), it would seem that this level of exploitation was unsustainable. Nevertheless, Antunes et al (2016) considered that a refuge-harvestable area model (i.e., source-sink dynamics) was the only reasonable way to explain increasing or continued commercial-scale harvest for Amazonian wildlife species in Brazil, including jaguars and ocelots.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The grey dotted line indicates the year of the hunting band (Veda de Caza, 934-73-AG) jaguar dispersal patterns may have allowed them to recolonize previously harvested territories. Studies have shown that jaguar dispersal is mostly male-biased, while females are more philopatric, remaining close to each other (Kantek et al, 2021;Lorenzana et al, 2020). In addition, jaguar home-ranges are estimated at 35-2915 km 2 for males and 13-1155 km 2 for females, and are related to habitat productivity, forest cover and road density (Morato et al, 2016;Thompson et al, 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective and current trend of wild‐cat trade in Peru

Mena

Vento²,

Martínez³

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Jaguars from the Brazilian Pantanal: Low genetic structure, male-biased dispersal, and implications for long-term conservation

Cited by 18 publications

References 63 publications

Unveiling demographic and mating strategies ofPanthera oncain the Pantanal, Brazil

Unveiling demographic and mating strategies ofPanthera oncain the Pantanal, Brazil

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

Retrospective and current trend of wild‐cat trade in Peru

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