Two separate camera-trap surveys have captured videos and images of jaguars in two different forests in Ecuador’s northwest, where the animal hadn’t been spotted for several years. Subsequent analysis confirmed that it was the same individual moving between the two forests, according to a new study.
The first camera-trap survey by researchers from the Central University of Ecuador, the Andean Condor Foundation, and the EcoMinga Foundation recorded a jaguar (Panthera onca) in Río Manduriacu Reserve in northwestern Ecuador’s Andean region in November 2023. This was the first time in seven years a jaguar had been seen in the reserve.
Then, in early 2024, NGOs DECOIN and Ecoforensics, along with local ecologists, set up two more camera traps in a mining concession in the Junín Community Forest, also in northwestern Ecuador, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Manduriacu. These cameras, too, recorded a jaguar, the first sighting there in 15 years.
After sharing their footage, the two groups’ collaborative analysis of the animals’ fur patterns confirmed that both surveys had spotted the same individual jaguar. The study notes the jaguar “seems to have taken a circuitous route through forested and human-altered zones for almost two months.”
Study co-author Javier Torres, a professor at the Central University of Ecuador, told Mongabay in an email that ongoing habitat loss in the lowland habitats that jaguars prefer, such as the Chocó forests, could be pushing jaguars to higher-elevation areas, such as the Río Manduriacu reserve, “as they search for new territories.”
“This shift is particularly concerning for the Critically Endangered western population of jaguars, which faces greater threats compared to the eastern population,” he said.
Months before the jaguar was spotted in Junín, a court ordered that mining activity there be withdrawn. “This may suggest that jaguars may have avoided the area previously due to disturbances from mining and other human activities,” the study notes.
At the same time, the EcoMinga Foundation and the Cielo Verde community near Rio Manduriacu found evidence showing that a jaguar, possibly the same individual spotted in the camera traps, may have attacked livestock in the area in January 2024, the authors write.
“In this sense, while the presence of jaguars in areas where they were previously considered absent is a positive sign of biodiversity, it underscores the importance of addressing human-wildlife conflicts and other threats like mining activities and habitat fragmentation,” Torres said.
The cameras in both forests also captured Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus). Torres said they’ll conduct extensive biodiversity monitoring across Imbabura province, which covers both forests, to learn more about the behavior of both species in the area.
The researchers also suggest environmental education for local communities, especially since jaguars are among the species most targeted in retaliatory killings in the Americas.
Banner image of jaguar courtesy of Torres-Jiménez et al. (2024).
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