Roaming among humans: noteworthy records of jaguar (Panthera onca) close to human settlements in the Paraguayan Humid Chaco

Abstract

Jaguars (Panthera onca Linnaeus, 1758) have been extirpated from nearly 55 % of their original range in America and from almost 24 % in Paraguay. Here we present evidence of the presence of jaguar close to the most populated areas of Paraguay, in a human–dominated landscape in the Humid Chaco forests, highlighting how without other pressures, jaguars can inhabit densely populated areas and potentially disperse between established populations.