Paper short abstract:

The results of a long-term study on the jaguar population at Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname, are used to shed light on the factors influencing the population dynamics of jaguars and human-jaguar interactions in the quest to successfully protect this species.

Paper long abstract:

Conservation management decisions are often based on population characteristics of ecological key species, such as jaguars. Especially long-term studies are proved to be ideal to capture the dynamics in density fluctuations and details on population structure over time. A nine-year study, from 2012-2020, was conducted on the status of the jaguar population at Brownsberg Nature Park (BNP). The calculated density varied between 0.51 and 4.21 individuals/100km2. The density estimates were largely controlled by biological and anthropogenic influences on the social behavior of the population. The twenty-seven jaguars identified had an overall short tenure in the area, an indication of possible poaching. Nevertheless, there was obvious reproductive behavior in numerous courtship events and detections of mother with cub. Females (including with cub) showed a high preference for using open roads. Ecotourism in the park has resulted in shifts in the activity pattern of jaguars to more nocturnality, portraying avoidance behavior. A human-jaguar conflict study in 2010 showed that most conflicts result from predation on livestock (49%), hunting (33%) and fear (60%). Twenty-seven percent of these conflicts were fatal for the jaguar. (Illegal) goldmining and logging, the foremost registered human disturbances, and threads to the jaguar population at BNP, commonly have a negative effect on jaguar numbers, especially in relation to poaching. Overall, imbalances in human-jaguar relations are often the result of a decline in preys’ availability and habitat loss. Only by restoring the ecological balance and regulating human presence with BNP, humans and jaguars will be able to coexist.