Panthera Mexico

Wild Cat Species

— Jaguar

— Puma

— Ocelot

— Jaguarundi

— Margay

— Bobcat

Priority Landscapes

— Yucatan Peninsula

Mexico is home to the largest jaguar population in Mesoamerica. As the northernmost point of the jaguar's range, it is a crucial piece of Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative. Jaguars and other wild cats are important to Mexico's cultural history, and were deities and power symbols for dominant Indigenous cultures, including the Olmecs, Mayas and Aztecs. To date, Panthera’s Mexico team has established 11 Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs) and approximately 20 biological corridors. As the third-largest country in Latin America, Mexico is teeming with biodiversity. However, deforestation, water contamination and habitat fragmentation threaten Mexico's large population of plant and wildlife species.

In partnership with government agencies, other NGOs, academic institutions and local communities, Panthera’s Jaguar Corridor Initiative works across Central and South America to monitor populations, guarantee the safe movement of jaguars, secure protected areas and mitigate human-jaguar conflict.

See the Jaguar 2030 Roadmap (PDF).

Panthera’s Mexico program focuses mostly on the Yucatan Peninsula, where jaguars and other wild cats face habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and human-cat conflict. We address these threats by helping wildlife law enforcement better counter illegal poaching and supporting community control and protection activities. Additionally, our camera traps help communities obtain legal recognition of wildlife corridors. Importantly, we're increasing the uptake of anti-predation best practices in high-conflict areas by establishing demonstration ranches and running cattle conflict workshops. We also promote sustainable ecotourism and agricultural practices.

Our accomplishments in Mexico to date include:

• Delivered more than 10 workshops about the importance of jaguar conservation in rural communities;
• Trained 16 vigilance committee members on the use of camera traps and SMART Technology;
• Developed a model cattle ranch to demonstrate winning strategies to avoid cattle predation;
• Participated in extensive yearly camera trap surveys to monitor jaguar populations and their prey in key sites in southern Mexico;
• Collaborated closely with the Campeche state environmental agency (SEMABICC) to gain valuable information on where jaguars are crossing a road that traverses the Calakmul JCU;
• Financially supported three students to carry out the fieldwork necessary for their Ph.D. completion;
• Participated in four recent important publications;
• Created and developed the annual Month of the Jaguar, an international festival that celebrates jaguar culture in all its expressions and spreads the message of the importance of conservation; and
• Participated in the update of the National Strategy for Jaguar Conservation (PACE).

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Contact

Panthera Mexico
Stirling Dickinson #27
Colonia San Antonio
San Miguel de Allende
Guanajuato, Mexico
 

Diana Friedeberg
dfriedeberg@panthera.org
+52 415 1255907