Focus on Conservation: Jaguar

Libélula, with her 5-month-old cub Angel (from 2020), has been "caught on camera” for around nine years and is now the oldest-known female in the region.

Photo credit: Northern Jaguar Project

You may know our beautiful jaguars, Fitz—a nearly 5-yearold male (his birthday is in July)—and Nayla—a 16-yearold female. But did you know that every time you come visit them, you’re helping their wild cousins? The Northern Jaguar Project is one of Woodland Park Zoo’s Wildlife Survival Program partners. That means a portion of your zoo ticket price or membership fee helps fund this conservation organization that protects jaguars.

THE NORTHERN JAGUAR PROJECT

THE WHY

While jaguars have long been known to live in parts of Mexico, Central and South America, they once prowled throughout the

American southwest, too. Throughout much of the last century they were seen as a threat to humans and cattle, so bounties were paid to hunt, trap and poison them in states including Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. By the 1960s they were largely gone from the U.S. In Mexico they are now listed as endangered and are a “near threatened” species throughout the rest of their range in the Americas, mostly due to habitat destruction, trophy hunting and conflict with humans.

THE HOW

and recent highlights

Protection is also needed for cats that live or wander outside

the reserve—so the organization established the Viviendo con Felinos program (Living with Cats) to mitigate conflict between local ranchers and these native carnivores. The ranchers allow motion-detecting cameras onto their land and in turn they get paid every time a cat appears on camera. The ranchers also get help managing their cattle in ways that discourage any of the cats from preying on their livestock.

THE

WHO +

WHAT The Northern Jaguar Project was formed in 2003 to preserve and

recover the world’s northernmost population of jaguars that live on and around the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico. The Northern Jaguar Reserve—a 55,000-acre area run by the organization—lies just south of the border in the Mexican state of Sonora. Researchers there work to identify and protect jaguars and the corridors they use to travel throughout that habitat. And when habitat for the jaguar is protected, it also provides an umbrella of protection for all the species that live there, including other cats such as pumas, bobcats and ocelots—plus prey species like white-tailed deer and javelinas.

THE NORTHERN JAGUAR PROJECT

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll, on the

health of some of the local ranchers—some have passed away—and on the organization’s ability to get needed equipment from the U.S. to expand monitoring efforts. Many local farmers and ranchers are also dealing with unprecedented and prolonged drought. So in addition to jaguar monitoring, project staff have been helping with water conservation efforts, riparian restoration workshops and training to fight wildfires.

Still, there is evidence of progress, too. In their 2021 report, Northern Jaguar Project staff recorded 13 different jaguars moving across 270 square miles of habitat on the reserve and throughout the ranches that have joined the Viviendo con Felinos program. Highlights include known resident cats and some new arrivals, including two female jaguars with cubs! One of those females, Libélula, has shown up on the cameras for more than nine years and is now the longest-documented jaguar and the oldest-known female in this region. Her newest cub has been named Angel. Another female—Luisa, who had not been seen since 2018—was photographed on the reserve with her newest cub, Choki. A student admires one of the murals in their town that inspires coexistence with jaguars.

Photo Credit: Northern Jaguar Project/Sonora, Mexico.

The Northern Jaguar Project also works with local schools and youth groups, offering outdoor education, recreation and art projects to inspire the

next generation of conservationists. You can learn more about this organization here and we invite you to enjoy a new short video that staff at the Northern Jaguar Project recently produced: Welcome to the Northern Jaguar Reserve.