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Sanderson, E.W.; Redford, K.H.; Chetkiewicz, C.B.; Medellin, R.A.; Rabinowitz, A.R.; Robinson, J.G.; Taber, A.B.
Planning to save a species: the jaguar as a model
2002  Conservation Biology (16): 58-72

International conservation planning at the end of the twentieth century is dominated by coarse-filter, supra-organismal approaches to conservation that may be insufficient to conserve certain species such as the jaguar _(Panthera onca)_. In March 1999 the Wildlife Conservation Society sponsored a priority-setting and planning exercise for the jaguar across its range, from northern Mexico to northern Argentina. Field scientists from 18 countries reached consensus on four types of information: 1) spatial extent of jaguar knowledge 2) known, currently occupied range 3) areas with substantial jaguar populations, adequate habitat, and stable prey base 4) point localities of jaguar observations during the last 10 years. During the exercise, these experts also conducted a range-wider assessment of the long-term survival prospects of the jaguar and developed an algorithm for prioritizing jaguar conservation units occurring in major habitat types. From this work, we learned that the known, occupied jaguar range has contracted to approximately 46% of estimates of its 1900 range. Jaguar status and distribution is unknown in another 12% of its former range. But over 70% of the area where jaguars are thought to still occur was rated as having a high probability of supporting their long-term survival. Fifty-one jaguar conservation units representing 30 different jaguar geographic regions were prioritized as the basis for a comprehensive jaguar conservation program.

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