Registros recientes de jaguar en Tabasco, norte de Chiapas y oeste de Campeche, México

Abstract

Jaguar distribution range in Mexico has been reduced due to habitat loss, the decrease in their prey species and jaguar hunting as retaliation of livestock predation. One of the regions where this effect has been more intense is Tabasco, western Campeche and northern Chiapas. In order to determine jaguar presence from 2006 to 2012 we used different sources of information (interviews, camera traps and media). We obtained 46 jaguar records in the area (16 from interviews, 28 from camera traps and 2 media notes). In northern Chiapas no evidence of the species presence was obtained. In Tabasco we obtained few records of the species, mainly concentrated in the Mexico-Guatemala border, and some isolated records in the mountains of Tabasco, the Veracruz and Tabasco borders and the coastal plains. In western Campeche, jaguar records were obtained in the vicinity of the Laguna de Términos Flora and Fauna Protection Area. The jaguar records obtained in this area confirm the presence of a population, justifying the relevance as a jaguar conservation unit. Due to the high rates of deforestation in the area, it is possible that in a near future this jaguar population could be isolated from other populations in southern Mexico.