The distribution area of the jaguar (Panthera onca) in Argentina is shrinking. According to the latest update from the Yaguareté Network, the Chaco Provincial Forest El Impenetrable (not to be confused with the National Park) is no longer an area with confirmed presence of the feline.
The recent study by the Population Monitoring Program of Jaguars in Argentina (ProMoPYA) no longer considers this section of the northwestern Chaco as a distribution area because there have been no species records for over five years. This area has transitioned from the “Current Distribution” category to “Presence Requiring Confirmation”.
There are fewer and fewer territories with presence of these felines. In 2024, the province of Santiago del Estero – including the Copó National Park – was also no longer considered a recurrent habitat for the jaguar, as the last sightings there date back to 2013.
Jaguars threatened in the Gran Chaco
The Yaguareté Network considers that hunting is the main threat facing the animals in this area. Faced with this onslaught, the few specimens end up moving further and further north. “Without a change in the tremendous hunting pressure and the absence of control policies and coexistence with people, it seems unlikely that the jaguars can return to these areas on their own,” they state.
Deforestation due to the advance of the agricultural frontier complicates the situation, as it impacts the loss of natural habitats. According to Greenpeace’s report, 75% of the country’s deforestation in 2024 was concentrated in just four provinces: Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Formosa, and Salta, all of which make up the Chaco forest.
It is estimated that there are only 20 jaguars left in the entire Gran Chaco. Biologist Verónica Quiroga described the situation as critical and in an interview stated that “the species is ecologically extinct in these regions, as (due to the low number) it does not fulfill its ecological role.”
Challenges for the conservation of the jaguar
Over the past few years, the reintroduction of jaguars into the Impenetrable National Park has been promoted as part of a conservation program between Rewilding Argentina and the National Parks Administration.
In 2024, two females were released in this National Park, one raised in captivity and the other rescued in Paraguay. In March of this year, a wild jaguar named Mini from Iberá was released in this protected area.
The Yaguareté Network warns that in the near future, these individuals, as well as the new ones born, could be threatened. “The specimens will face very high chances of being hunted when they start dispersion processes due to the inevitable territorial overlap,” they point out.
Due to potential births, there would be more jaguars needing territory. Therefore, some individuals would have to move outside the safety provided by the national park and expose themselves to threats.
