Big Cat Adaptation in the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot

The Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot, part of the Neotropical ecological region, comprising Central America (Costa Rica, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and the northern half of Panama) and southern Mexico, is defined as a hotspot, because it is an area “featuring exceptional concentrations of endemic species and experiencing exceptional loss of habitat”. Species and habitat loss has occurred as rainforest is converted to urban and farmed areas and mixed vegetation mosaics, due to urbanization, population increase, agricultural intensification, civil wars, deforestation, land use conflicts and inept conservation policy.

The new landscapes and increased human proximity favor small animals to the detriment of large carnivores such as the jaguar and cougar. Few studies have modeled the survival probability of large carnivores in this area, rooted in the behavioral characteristics of these animals across their wider ranges.The jaguar (Panthera onca, Linnaeus 1758) and cougar (Puma concolor, Linnaeus 1771) are decisively the largest carnivorous mammals in the Mesoamerican region, distant competitors being the much smaller ocelot (Leopardus pardalis, Linnaeus 1758) and coyote (Canis latrans, Say 1823).

Crucially, the comparatively large and possibly dangerous jaguars and cougars conflict with people in valued spaces, to the extent that both species are now extinct in El Salvador, one of the more environmentally degraded countries in Central America. Jaguars are much less studied than lions, tigers and leopards, and those in South America are more popular than the Central American populations.