19 Jaguars Photographed in Bolivia

Digital cameras placed in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park caught nineteen wild jaguars in images snapped very recently. Nine hundred and seventy-five photos were taken by the remote cameras, which use motion detectors to trigger image capture. It was a record for the most jaguars ever captured in a single remote camera survey in Bolivia. Wildlife Conservation Society researchers set up the cameras and later identified the jaguars from photos as individuals, by their unique spot patterns. (This type of identification is similar to the matching done of whale photographs, because each whale also has unique markings.)

“We’re excited about the prospect of using these images to find out more about this elusive cat and its ecological needs.The data gleaned from these images provide insights into the lives of individual jaguars and will help us generate a density estimate for the area,” said WCS conservationist Dr. Robert Wallace. (Source:Wildlife Conservation Society)

Digital photographs are better than film, because it is possible to zoom in and observe even more detail, easily copy them, and use in new media. It appears currently just two of the jaguar images were released from the over nine hundred.

jaguar

Jaguars are believed to be declining in numbers due to habitat loss decrease in their prey, and poaching. Their conservation status is Near Threatened. They almost never attack humans and they have never been documented to hunt humans, like some tigers in India. That might be because they tend to be reclusive, but it is likely their much smaller size is also a reason. They typically weigh about 125 pounds, but some weighing 300 have been documented. Jaguars prefer to hunt and eat large ungulates, and are nocturnal. Their jaws are exceptionally strong; their bite can pierce skulls and even turtle shells. Jaguars are apex predators and a keystone species, meaning their presence in an ecosystem helps keep it in balance. If jaguars were removed, the ecosystem could get very out of balance as their prey might overeat important plants and cause havoc.

Many jaguars live in the Amazon basin, so their fate is tied to conservation of its’ forests. Others live in Mexico, and Central America. They have been wiped out in the United States, except for the very occasional sighting.

Image Credits: Wildlife Conservation Society

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Danuta W.

12:15AM PDT on Jun 15, 2012

thanks for the info

June 15
send a green star

Beverly G.

6:22PM PDT on Nov 3, 2011

Pamela , you so right i agree with you. they are beautful.

November 3
send a green star

6:17PM PDT on Nov 3, 2011

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL. god bless them>

Mary L.

9:34PM PDT on Oct 25, 2011

And when we click, we help in a small way too. Nice

October 25
send a green star

PAM S.

12:11PM PDT on Oct 25, 2011

BEAUTIFUL CAT.. HOPE THEY CAN BE SAVED!

A P.

10:32AM PDT on Oct 24, 2011

They are so beautiful!

October 24
send a green star

Laurie H.

9:01AM PDT on Oct 24, 2011

Hope and pray they all live long and happy lives! Beautiful photos Jake-many thanks!!~

Lynette B.

7:51AM PDT on Oct 23, 2011

- Kit Kimberley - Actually, I agree with you. These postings are about communicating information; and proper spelling and grammar are methods of communicating. It may seem that one punctuation error (it's v.s. its) is not important. However, one small error leads to an increasingly more common and acceptable form of (mis) writing.

Gary A. tries to point this out: accept it, it's alright to misspell words and use inappropriate punctuation.

I, however, don't believe it is acceptable. Eventually, the errors are so many that the structure and intent of the communication are lost in the sheer volume of mistakes.

Anyway, back to the article about jaguars. Thanks. Jake Richardson usually writes very informative articles.