IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Cavalcanti, S.M.C. | |
| Predator-prey relationships and spatial ecology of jaguars in the southern pantanal, Brazil: Implications for conservation and management | |
| 2008 Full Book | |
The Pantanal in west-central Brazil is considered critical habitat for the long-term conservation of jaguars (_Panthera onca_). The marked seasonal climate of the area and its influence on vegetation likely influences the relationship between jaguars and their prey. The current trend in the land-tenure system in the Pantanal is increasing human access to jaguar habitat that could influence habitat use by jaguars and interactions with prey. Jaguars in the Pantanal coexist with increasing numbers of humans and domestic cattle, a situation inevitably leading to cattle depredations by jaguars and a negative view of the cats among ranchers, making jaguar conservation a complex and challenging issue. To date, no study has located jaguar kills in a systematic way and documented an unbiased spatial distribution of jaguar kills. We used global positioning system (GPS) collars to describe jaguar habitat use and spatial patterns of predation in relation to habitat and landscape attributes. Jaguars used some habitats disproportionately to their availability in the wet and dry seasons. Forests and shrublands were generally selected by jaguars. However, the type of vegetation did not influence the locations of prey killed. Contrary to expectations, jaguars did not select forested habitats nor did they avoid open fields to make kills, but killed prey in these habitats proportionately to their availability. Cattle, caiman, and peccaries killed by jaguars (n =327 carcasses) were distributed in the various habitats according to their availability with the exception of the dry season when caiman were killed mostly in shrublands and peccaries were killed mostly in forests. Our results do not support earlier findings about jaguar habitat use and the spatial distribution of livestock depredations in the southern Pantanal. Our data suggest habitats other than forests may be equally important to the foraging habits of jaguars implying that habitat conservation in the Pantanal goes beyond conserving forested areas. Our results illustrate the highly opportunistic nature of jaguars where they appear to readily exploit an environment that is constantly changing and where food resources vary both temporally and spatially. |
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