Theodoro, Soneca, and other jaguars in the forests of São Paulo : Revista Pesquisa Fapesp

Nobody knows how many jaguars (Panthera onca) roam the forests of São Paulo State. The number is likely to be small—the threat of poaching, the scarcity of suitable habitats and prey, and risks of being hit by a vehicle have caused populations of South America’s largest terrestrial carnivores to dwindle. The Guide to jaguars in the state of São Paulo, published at the end of November, portrayed 51 of them.

“It is essential that we better understand jaguar populations and identities. These apex predators are fundamental components of the ecosystem,” says Beatriz de Mello Beisiegel, a biologist from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) who led the survey. Specialists from ICMBio, the Forest Foundation, and the São Paulo State Environmental Research Institute helped plan the study.

Guide to Jaguars in the state of São PauloRonRon, first photographed in 2019 (left); and Aruana, seen in 2020 and 2022Guide to Jaguars in the state of São Paulo

The few jaguars living in São Paulo roam widely. “We identified a male at two points 97 kilometers apart. It walked from the east of the Carlos Botelho state park to the south of PETAR [Alto Ribeira State and Tourist Park] in the southeast region of the state,” says Beisiegel. “By following the individual animals, we can identify corridors between large forest fragments, which need to be maintained and improved.”

Each animal was identified by camera traps set up in the forests and identified by the unique spots on their bodies, known as rosettes. Theodoro, who weighs 90 kilograms (kg) and spends most of his time in the Morro do Diabo state park and near the Paranapanema river in the west of the state, was seen mating in front of one of the camera traps in 2021. The female was not identified. Juçara, seen in 2021 and 2022, is the only female living on the western side of the Morro do Diabo state park.

In the same forest, a jaguar called Monkey was caught preying on black capuchin monkeys (Sapajus nigritus) together with another unidentified jaguar. Another, called Modesta, lives in the forests of the Contínuo de Paranapiacaba region in the south of the state. She is one of the oldest known female jaguars in the Atlantic Forest. In 2017, when she was already at least 10 years old, she was seen with a cub aged almost one year—jaguars live to about 15 years and females usually have two cubs per litter (see Pesquisa FAPESP issue nº 327). The most recent photograph in the guide, taken in May 2023, is of a cub, later identified as male, named Barti after an open online vote—the researchers usually name the animals themselves when they identify them.

Some of the jaguars in the guide have died since being identified, like Peter, who was likely killed by poachers in 2011. A female called Lua was hit by a vehicle in July 2009, but can still be seen, taxidermied, at the Morro do Diabo State Park Museum. Soneca, who the researchers had fitted with a GPS collar and was thought to be the daughter of Tartaruga, died in the Nascentes do Paranapanema state park in 2014.

Jaguars have already disappeared from the Pampas biome in southern Brazil and from 96% of Atlantic Forest fragments measuring less than 100 square kilometers. Most jaguars in Brazil live in the Amazon (80%), although population density is highest in the Pantanal.

Project
Jaguars (Panthera onca) in the Paranapiacaba Continuum: Individual identification, population estimate, and appropriation by society (nº 19/20525-7); Grant Mechanism Research Grant; Biota Program; Principal Investigator Beatriz de Mello Beisiegel (ICMBio); Investment R$168,663.96.

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