Thanks to the conservation program and exhaustive monitoring, a new jaguar in Formosa was recorded.
This is the largest feline on the continent and is in serious danger of extinction. In the latest field campaign, the team from Yaguareté Project (CeIBA – CONICET) confirmed the presence of a new specimen.
It adds up to a sixth individual recorded in the province and the ninth in the entire Chaco region. With what methodology was it detected.
New jaguar in Formosa: how was it recorded
During an intense campaign, six days and over 1300 km traveled, among many other activities, the team reviewed a set of camera traps located in the area.
The new jaguar. (photo: Fundación Vida Silvestre).
“The photographic device captured the presence of two jaguars: Hay ‘ojtaj’, already identified in the area during the last months of 2024, and a ‘new’ individual so far unknown to the species records in the region,” detailed from Fundación Vida Silvestre.
This new specimen is an adult male. It was photographed on three occasions during February in the Patiño department. It is an area that, over the last three years, has been territory of at least four different jaguars.
The researchers classified it as a “key area” for the connectivity of the species’ habitat in the Chaco region.
In this sense, the new records highlight the importance of protecting one of the key corridors for the survival of the species in the central region of Formosa.
This also includes the need to continue with its monitoring, and immediate assistance in conflict situations with local communities to favor coexistence.
The scientific role of the community
The project is carried out with the collaboration of different organizations. There is a joint effort between the Ministry of Production and Environment of the Province of Formosa, with the support of Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, and, in the territory of neighbors and members of the Collaborators Group for Jaguar Conservation.
“Residents and producers provide information about footprints, traces, and sightings, demonstrating the importance of citizen science and interinstitutional commitment to ensure the protection of the jaguar in the region,” the organization reports.
In the coming weeks, the team will begin fieldwork to complete the review of camera traps and address new alerts from collaborators.
They also carry out activities of dissemination, training, and environmental education.
The aim of these activities is to raise awareness among the local community and promote actions that allow its conservation and coexistence.
Hunting, the main problem for jaguar recovery
The endangered jaguar.
Hunting is the main problem for jaguar recovery. The largest feline on the continent is in a critical danger of extinction. For this reason, numerous conservation and breeding tasks 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.
In the last two centuries, the jaguar has lost 95% of the territory it originally occupied due to hunting and habitat alterations.
“Hunting continues to be inadequately controlled in focal areas such as the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve, the south of Urugua-í (both in Misiones), the entire Bermejo River, and several locations in Salta and Jujuy,” pointed out the executive director of Red Yaguareté, Nicolás Lodeiro Ocampo, to the TN channel.
In this regard, he warns of a serious situation. “In Misiones, we practically have total extinction in the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve, where organized groups come from Brazil and devastate the populations,” he said.
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