Hunting is the main problem for the recovery of the jaguar. The largest feline on the continent is in critical danger of extinction. For this reason, numerous tasks for the conservation and reproduction of the animal are carried out both in the country and in the region.
For several years, the population of the species has been decreasing alarmingly. Although reintroduction programs have been successful in Corrientes and Chaco, it is essential to combat hunting.
### Recovery of the Jaguar: Hunting, the Main Threat
The **Rewilding Argentina Foundation**, one of the organizations working on the recovery of the jaguar for more than 20 years, has identified one of the main problems in this regard.
According to their findings, none of the plans correctly address the coexistence between the species and livestock. This is one of the main reasons for the decrease: hunting as retaliation.
In the last two centuries, the jaguar has lost 95% of its original territory due to hunting and habitat alterations.
“Hunting remains unchecked in focal areas such as the Yabotà Biosphere Reserve, the southern Urugua-à (both in Misiones), the entire Bermejo River, and various locations in Salta and Jujuy,” pointed out Nicolás Lodeiro Ocampo, Executive Director of Red Yaguareté, to the TN channel.
In this regard, he warned of a serious situation. “In Misiones, we practically have total extinction in the Yabotà Biosphere Reserve, where organized groups come from Brazil and decimate populations,” he said.
### Most Affected Sites
 Las amenazas del yaguareté.
Lodeiro Ocampo focused on northern Santiago del Estero, in the area of the Copo National Park, where “the last comment about a jaguar is from 20 years ago.”
“The conditions are given for its development by maintaining connections with the forests of the Impenetrable chaqueño,” he indicated. But he added: “it leaves the Impenetrable and has to dodge bullets.”
To improve the situation, he considered that coexistence measures between the jaguar and livestock must be implemented, and deaths by hunters must be addressed properly.
### The Jaguar, in Critical Danger: Main Threats
In Argentina, the jaguar is protected by the **National Law 22,421 on Wildlife Conservation** at the national level.
Moreover, multiple regulations issued in various provinces reinforce this protection, in addition to being declared a national natural monument in 2001.
It is one of the 10 species of wild felines (along with the puma, the jaguarundi, the ocelot, the tigrina, the margay, and the Andean, montane, and grassland cats) that inhabit Argentina.
However, it is an endangered species, a victim of illegal hunting and habitat loss, among other threats such as roadkill, which has increased in recent years.
### How Many Jaguars Are There in the Country
 Yaguaretés en el Iberá
At the beginning of the 20th century, its habitat extended to Argentine Patagonia, but since then its distribution has been reduced by 95%.
In the country, there are fewer than 250 jaguars, as far as is known. It has already become extinct in Uruguay and El Salvador.
It is considered an “indicator” species of environmental health because it plays an important role in maintaining natural systems that provide vital ecosystem services for the well-being of nature and people.
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