Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Maintaining jaguar Panthera onca subpopulations throughout Mesoamerica is vital to range-wide jaguar conservation. Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica is critical habitat for the Osa Peninsula jaguar subpopulation. There is a debate regar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Erik R. Olson, Yunyi Shen, Parker J. Matzinger, Evelyn Tatiana Solano Mora, Guido Saborío-R., Alejandro Azofeifa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press
Series:Oryx
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605324001170/type/journal_article
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849235853263503360
author Erik R. Olson
Yunyi Shen
Parker J. Matzinger
Evelyn Tatiana Solano Mora
Guido Saborío-R.
Alejandro Azofeifa
author_facet Erik R. Olson
Yunyi Shen
Parker J. Matzinger
Evelyn Tatiana Solano Mora
Guido Saborío-R.
Alejandro Azofeifa
author_sort Erik R. Olson
collection DOAJ
description Maintaining jaguar Panthera onca subpopulations throughout Mesoamerica is vital to range-wide jaguar conservation. Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica is critical habitat for the Osa Peninsula jaguar subpopulation. There is a debate regarding whether the jaguars in this National Park are in a state of crisis. To examine this, we implemented long-term camera-trap monitoring throughout Corcovado National Park during 2015–2021. Using a spatially explicit Jolly–Seber model we estimated jaguar populations and distribution throughout our study area. Additionally, we reran our model using a constrained study area to compare our findings with those of a previous study. Trends in jaguar abundance indices and population estimates during 2015–2021 indicate that jaguar abundance has increased over time. Our jaguar density estimates also fall within the range of jaguar densities reported for relatively stable populations elsewhere. Using the same study area as that of a prior study, jaguar densities also increased over the duration of our study and were mostly comparable to previous density estimates. Our results suggest that jaguars within Corcovado National Park may not be in a state of crisis. Rather, our findings provide further hope for the jaguars of the Osa Peninsula. They do not, however, diminish the importance of continued conservation efforts. These will remain critical both inside and outside Corcovado National Park, as threats appear to have persisted over time.
format Article
id doaj-art-2bfead4c8ddb4bd2b562711dfd372bfd
institution Kabale University
issn 0030-6053
1365-3008
language English
publisher Cambridge University Press
record_format Article
series Oryx
spelling doaj-art-2bfead4c8ddb4bd2b562711dfd372bfd2025-08-20T04:02:37ZengCambridge University PressOryx0030-60531365-300811210.1017/S0030605324001170Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa RicaErik R. Olson0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3106-1351Yunyi Shen1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2779-6507Parker J. Matzinger2Evelyn Tatiana Solano Mora3Guido Saborío-R.4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9490-2459Alejandro Azofeifa5Department of Natural Sciences, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USADepartment of Natural Sciences, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, USAÁrea de Conservación Osa, Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación, Golfito, Costa RicaÁrea de Conservación Osa, Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación, Golfito, Costa RicaÁrea de Conservación Osa, Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación, Golfito, Costa RicaMaintaining jaguar Panthera onca subpopulations throughout Mesoamerica is vital to range-wide jaguar conservation. Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica is critical habitat for the Osa Peninsula jaguar subpopulation. There is a debate regarding whether the jaguars in this National Park are in a state of crisis. To examine this, we implemented long-term camera-trap monitoring throughout Corcovado National Park during 2015–2021. Using a spatially explicit Jolly–Seber model we estimated jaguar populations and distribution throughout our study area. Additionally, we reran our model using a constrained study area to compare our findings with those of a previous study. Trends in jaguar abundance indices and population estimates during 2015–2021 indicate that jaguar abundance has increased over time. Our jaguar density estimates also fall within the range of jaguar densities reported for relatively stable populations elsewhere. Using the same study area as that of a prior study, jaguar densities also increased over the duration of our study and were mostly comparable to previous density estimates. Our results suggest that jaguars within Corcovado National Park may not be in a state of crisis. Rather, our findings provide further hope for the jaguars of the Osa Peninsula. They do not, however, diminish the importance of continued conservation efforts. These will remain critical both inside and outside Corcovado National Park, as threats appear to have persisted over time.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605324001170/type/journal_articleCosta RicajaguarJolly–Seber modelOsa PeninsulaPanthera oncaspatially explicit mark–recapture modelTayassu pecariwhite-lipped peccary
spellingShingle Erik R. Olson
Yunyi Shen
Parker J. Matzinger
Evelyn Tatiana Solano Mora
Guido Saborío-R.
Alejandro Azofeifa
Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
Oryx
Costa Rica
jaguar
Jolly–Seber model
Osa Peninsula
Panthera onca
spatially explicit mark–recapture model
Tayassu pecari
white-lipped peccary
title Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
title_full Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
title_fullStr Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
title_short Conservation crisis? Status of jaguars Panthera onca in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
title_sort conservation crisis status of jaguars panthera onca in corcovado national park costa rica
topic Costa Rica
jaguar
Jolly–Seber model
Osa Peninsula
Panthera onca
spatially explicit mark–recapture model
Tayassu pecari
white-lipped peccary
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605324001170/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT erikrolson conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica
AT yunyishen conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica
AT parkerjmatzinger conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica
AT evelyntatianasolanomora conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica
AT guidosaborior conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica
AT alejandroazofeifa conservationcrisisstatusofjaguarspantheraoncaincorcovadonationalparkcostarica