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Worldwide big cats are at risk of extinction, and anthropogenic factors and natural habitat disturbances represent the biggest threats for their survival. It is essential to know the natural resources use by these predators and the way these big felids can adapt to changes. It is unknown how the puma (Puma concolor) selects and uses resources, what environmental factors determine its presence and how this species is affected by natural disturbances in Mexican tropical forests. This study was performed in the Eden ecological reserve and surroundings, in the North of Quintana Roo, Mexico, an area dominated by tropical semideciduous (medium forest) and secondary forest (acahual). Camera samplings were carried out during 2008, and from 2010 to 2012. Habitat variables, activity patterns and species associations were also spatially and temporally analyzed using achi-squared test and overlapping coefficients. General Linear Models(GLM) were used in order to determine which variables influence the presence of cougars in the study area. Cougars used vegetation and paths in different proportions as the availability of these resources. The years with more changes (P <0.05) were 2008 and 2011. This predator was active throughout the day, but changed its activity patterns over the years. The cougarwas spatio-temporally associated with six mammals and two big terrestrial birds:Pecari tajacu (Δ = 0.52), Meleagrisocellata (Δ = 0.55), Crax rubra (Δ = 0.58), Didelphis sp.(Δ = 0.64), Mazama temama (Δ = 0.66), Leopardus pardalis (Δ = 0.68), Dasypus novemcinctus (Δ = 0.73) and Panthera onca (Δ = 0.87). After testing 90 GLM models, the model with a lower AIC value described the activity patterns of prey and co-predators. The vegetation and water in the reserve were important variables for the cougar. However the variables that determined and modified the presence of the species were activity patterns of co-predators and the potential preys. The factors that negatively affected the presence of the species were fire, human presence, and habitat displacement to less favorable habitats to avoid jaguar. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(1): 78-90. Epub 2018 March 01. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We documented the occurrence of Eira barbara in the municipalities of Tecpán de Galeana and Petatlán, state of Guerrero, Mexico. Our records represent a 450-km range expansion from the most recent northern occurrences of this species in the Mexican Pacific coast states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scoping review was conducted to map, summarize, and understand the extent of evidence on jaguar (Panthera onca) food resource use and its interaction with humans. A total of 105 studies were identified in electronic databases: 57 analyzed jaguar food resource use, and 48 described jaguar interactions with humans. The studies were published in 51 journals, mainly in English, from 1993–2021 in 14/19 countries where jaguars live. The evidence demonstrated the variability and prey consumption of the jaguar; there are contrasting results regarding the diversity of prey consumed. The frequency of livestock predation was found to be related to the abundance and availability of natural prey and the distance of ranches from the jaguar habitat. The interaction of the jaguar with humans presented an interesting and contrasting picture, since the perception of the jaguar varied depending on the sociocultural context and the study site. The results showed a negative effect of human activities on the distribution and density of the feline, and there was evidence of poaching and attacks on humans, although the information was insufficient to determine the causes in depth. More research and dissemination are needed on these issues at the local level in the regions where the jaguar lives, as these are the areas where decisions and actions are needed to conserve the jaguar in coexistence with communities and livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is one of the most threatened carnivores in the Americas. Despite a long history of research on this charismatic species, to date there have been few systematic efforts to assess its population size and status in most countries across its distribution range. We present here the results of the two National Jaguar Surveys for Mexico, the first national censuses in any country within the species distribution. We estimated jaguar densities from field data collected at 13 localities in 2008–2010 (2010 hereafter) and 11 localities in 2016–2018 (2018 hereafter). We used the 2010 census results as the basis to develop a National Jaguar Conservation Strategy that identified critical issues for jaguar conservation in Mexico. We worked with the Mexican government to implement the conservation strategy and then evaluated its effectivity. To compare the 2010 and 2018 results, we estimated the amount of jaguar-suitable habitat in the entire country based on an ecological niche model for both periods. Suitable jaguar habitat covered ~267,063 km2 (13.9% of the country's territory) in 2010 and ~ 288,890 km2 (~14.8% of the country's territory) in 2018. Using the most conservative density values for each priority region, we estimated jaguar densities for both the high and low suitable habitats. The total jaguar population was estimated in ~4,000 individuals for 2010 census and ~4,800 for the 2018 census. The Yucatan Peninsula was the region with the largest population, around 2000 jaguars, in both censuses. Our promising results indicate that the actions we proposed in the National Jaguar Conservation Strategy, some of which have been implemented working together with the Federal Government, other NGO's, and land owners, are improving jaguar conservation in Mexico. The continuation of surveys and monitoring programs of the jaguar populations in Mexico will provide accurate information to design and implement effective, science-based conservation measures to try to ensure that robust jaguar populations remain a permanent fixture of Mexico's natural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Competition for mates, cub rearing, and other behaviors differ between males and females in large carnivores. Although these differences can be reflected in patterns of habitat use, gender has rarely been incorporated into habitat models. We evaluated differences in habitat use between male and female jaguars in the Mayan Forest of the Yucatan Peninsula by modeling occupancy as a function of land cover type, distance to roads, and sex. Nested models were fitted to high-spatiotemporal resolution satellite (GPS) telemetry, controlled for temporal autocorrelation, and eliminated selection bias of pseudo-absences using a semi-non-parametric bootstrap. Although both male and female jaguars prefer tall forest, short forest was also preferred by females but avoided by males. Whereas females significantly avoided roads, males didn’t and ventured into low-intensity cattle ranching and agriculture. Females’ preference for intact forests and against roads led to their habitat being fragmented to a greater degree than that of males. Models that ignored sexual differences failed to capture the effect of roads and agriculture on jaguar habitat use, blurred the distinction of use between short and tall forest, and underestimated fragmentation of female jaguar habitat; but incorporating these differences increased precision of habitat maps and allowed the identification of potential jaguar-human conflict areas associated with male’s use of cattle and agricultural lands. Specifying sex differences increases the power of habitat models to understand landscape occupancy by large carnivores, and so greater attention should be paid to these differences in their modeling and conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]