Less than 1% of the dry forest of the Coast, habitat of the jaguar in the region, is conserved

Does the jaguar survive in the tropical dry forest of southwestern Ecuador? That is the answer that a group of scientists seeks to clear with the placement of camera traps in specific points of the few and small conserved areas of this ecosystem, one of the most threatened in the world.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is in the category Critically endangered, in the Costa region of the country.

A regional plan to rescue the jaguar from extinction will be applied in Ecuador and 13 other countries in the Americas.

A group of researchers from the Foundation for Conservation and Research JaPu, an NGO that focuses its work on the conservation of the dry forest that surrounds Guayaquil, executes the project Looking for the Jaguar of southwestern Ecuador, with the aim of capturing and estimating the population current of the largest feline in the American continent in this part of the country.

“It is intended as a scientific effort to search for the jaguar in some of these forests on the Coast and nearby areas in the provinces of the Sierra with humid forests, locating camera traps in strategic places”, indicates Cristian Barros, president of JaPu.

“These tools will also allow us to know the state of conservation, since it is thought that it may be locally extinct,” he adds.

The research has focused so far on the Loma Alta Communal Ecological Reserve (Recla), the Las Balsas Communal Forest, both in the province of Santa Elena, and the Cerro Blanco Protective Forest, in Guayas.

The three are conservation areas that are within a corridor in the Chongón-Colonche mountain range, which flanks the coast of the country.

“We started by placing eight camera traps in the Reclamation between January and September 2020. We continue with the Rafts, between October 2020 and March 2021, where we increased the sampling effort to fifteen camera traps. This phase was in conjunction with the BioS association (BioS Sustainable Biodiversity Research Center) of Peru ”.

The study is now focused on the Cerro Blanco Protective Forest with 25 camera traps, a joint effort with the Guayaquil Airport Authority.

In the three areas, 25 species of wild mammals have been identified, however, still no direct records of the jaguar.

The last sighting of a jaguar in the dry forest of the southwest was in 2013 in the Cerro Blanco Protective Forest, captured by the Pro-Bosque Foundation. “Since then, not enough efforts have been made to confirm whether individuals still exist,” says Barros.

“Many scientists take it for granted that there are no longer any jaguars in the dry forests of Ecuador, and thus suggest that all conservation efforts should be directed at the eastern jaguar.“, But not all is lost.

In the event that at the end of the study it is determined that the jaguar population of the Ecuadorian dry forest is not viable due to problems such as the lack of connectivity between the forest remnants or due to inbreeding (mating between animals genetically related to each other by common ancestors ), the alternative, says Barros, is an action plan for the reintroduction of the jaguar.

How would it be done? The first step, the specialist considers, has already been taken and is the current study of camera traps that will last a few more years in other forests with the support of another of the allies, El Pantanal Zoo, which collaborates with camera traps.

“At the same time we have determined the degree of connectivity between the forests and the availability of food for the jaguar; especially deer and saínos, their main prey. Another important step is the environmental education of the communes where we have been doing the studies, some communes are waiting for the jaguar to return, but not in others ”, says Barros.

The medium or long-term strategy is the construction of the JaPu Wildlife Rescue Center in order to breed jaguars that are suitable for release, with satellite collars and thus restore balance to the forests of southwestern Ecuador. “We are in talks with the Guayaquil Airport Authority, an institution that is very interested in determining a suitable land for the refuge.”

Although camera traps have not captured a jaguar, there is evidence of its presence, such as footprints on the surface of the forest, which gives hope to the investigation that the species still persists in the area.

The jaguar has been an important symbol for the different cultures of the continent, where there are around 64,000 individuals with 34 subpopulations, of which 33 are in danger or critically endangered due to the loss and fragmentation of their habitat as a result of the agriculture, livestock and urban development, the excessive hunting of their natural prey and the illegal trade of their skin, teeth, among other causes.

This species is key in American tropical ecosystems because it maintains balance.

Denis Mosquera, scientific director of JaPu, affirms that the initiatives for the conservation of the great iconic vertebrates such as the jaguar through the protection of their habitats protect by concept the fauna and flora that occur in the geographical range of the protection zone. .

“In this way, the environmental benefit of the protection of this feline rises to its maximum expression when we analyze the global scope of the initiative. The continued devastation of natural forests has continued over the last century and is sadly evident. The loss of diversity of flora and fauna in general, local extinctions, population reduction, changes in distribution patterns, extreme changes in land use, dramatic deterioration in the quality of habitats, fragmentation, among others, are some negative effects. of such devastation ”.

The scientist highlights a reality in the region. Less than 1% of the tropical dry forests, restricted to the south and west of Ecuador, remain conserved, mainly thanks to governmental and private initiatives.

“Important proportions of these last remnants are in hills and hills surrounding the city of Guayaquil, such as Cerro Blanco, Cerro Prosperina, and Papagayo Reserve. Smaller conserved areas are located within the city limits ”.

This last group includes Cerro Paraíso, Bosque Bellavista, Bosque Palo Santo, among others.

“The main environmental challenge of current Guayaquil society could focus on maintaining and improving conservation strategies for these remnants. Only in this way will we be able to enjoy the environmental benefits that the forest provides us for a long time, such as the best air quality, the delight of nature, a natural barrier against natural disasters and more ”, indicates Mosquera. (I)