High jaguar densities and large population sizes in the core habitat of the southwestern Amazon

a b s t r a c t Over 80% of the currently occupied range of the jaguar (Panthera onca) lies in the Amazon. However, few density estimates exist for this habitat. Between 2005 and 2010 we carried out six camera trap surveys at three different sites in the department of Madre de Dios in the Peruvian Amazon. We analyzed our data using a Bayesian spatially explicit capture recapture model (SECR) with sex covariates to account for differences in home range size and detection probabilities of male and female jaguars. As several of our camera grids where too small for reliable density estimates, we used estimates for the r parameter from the largest camera grid to correct for the bias. Density estimates for our surveys were similar with an average density of 4.4 ± 0.7 jaguar 100 km À2 . Both home range size and encounter rates varied significantly between sexes with males having a larger home range and higher encounter rate than females. Our estimated sex ratio was 1:1.5 compared to an observed ratio of 1.9:1. Not accounting for sex would have resulted in an underestimation of the true density. The densities found in this study are among the highest documented and show that the Amazon is indeed a core habitat for the jaguar. We estimate that three jaguar conservation units in our study region (areas defined by experts as having a high conservation priority) could harbor as many as 6000 jaguars (CI: 4278-8142)

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data