Connor Seipel

Dr. Cassel
English 101
17 December, 2016
Jaguars effected by humans
Experts found that jaguar density in Brazil is 2-7.5 times lower than it was in the
1990s(Wultsch Caragiulo, Dias-Freedman, Quigley, Rabinowitz, Amato). What could cause such
a huge change? People can cause this big of a change. Most people arent trying to but they do
because of our growing population, society, and agriculture. You hear this type of thing every
day, and it mostly is about some predator that has a population that is shrinking. The common
animals that you hear about are the ones around where you live, or the major ones like lions and
tigers. People often forget about one of the biggest cats that this is happening to. This may be
because the effect of humans hasnt been that bad yet. I know the first predator I thought of was
not a jaguar. So, I decided to research how people are effecting jaguars. I found that humans have
a big effect on jaguar population and their habitats.
Jaguars are the largest cat in the Americas. Jaguars are 25-30 inches tall, and 43-75 inches
long. They can weigh anywhere from 79-211 pounds. Males have been recorded to weigh as
much as 305 pounds. A jaguars life span is normally about 12 years. Their coats are very similar
to leopards, but their rosette pattern is a little different. Jaguars have a wide head with powerful
jaws, and their body is compact. The jaguars habitat used to expand from Argentina to the
southwest area of the United States. Jaguars are almost completely gone from the United States,
and in some areas, they are endangered. A typical Jaguar lives in a very large range of land.

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Jaguars live in many different types of habitats. They live in rainforests, grasslands, swamps, and
mountainous regions. Jaguars are solitary animals. They live and hunt alone, the only time they
arent alone is during mating season (Fact Sheet Jaguar).
One way humans effect jaguars is by invading their habitat. This causes jaguars to lose
their habitat. With the growing human population, people are having to expand their cities or
towns, this means the loss of habitat for many animals. A study found out that the destruction of
jaguar habitat was affecting their genetic diversity (Wultsch, Caragiulo, Dias-Freedman,
Quigley, Rabinowitz, Amato). This means that jaguars from close areas were becoming
genetically different because they were separated by humans and their property. This shows how
humans have shrunk jaguars habitat. As a result, the jaguars are becoming less genetically
diverse.
The second way humans effect jaguars is by negatively affecting their population. With
the smaller habitats jaguars are closer to people, and this causes problems for both humans and
jaguars. A newspaper article discussed a problem of jaguars hunting farmers cattle and in return
the farmers kill the jaguars to protect their cattle (Cavelier, Garcia, Acevedo). The reason behind
this was because there was limited prey in the smaller habitats, forced the jaguars to settle for
easier prey. Another study showed how hunting the prey of jaguars effect the way a jaguar hunts
and what it hunts (Cambridge University Press). In the study, they found what jaguars were
eating through gathering of their feces. The results showed that in the areas of hunting the
amount of large prey the jaguars were eating was very low (Cambridge University). If a jaguar
doesnt change its habits in these areas the population could suffer.
Some people are trying to correct their negative effects on jaguars. The same newspaper
article also talked about how people were creating passages for jaguars to use to keep them away

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from the cattle (Cavelier, Garcia, Acevedo). Another article talked about how people are
gathering data on jaguar population so they can get the appropriate amount of protected area
(Boron, Tzanopoulos, Gallo, Barragan, Jaimes-Rodriguez, Schaller, Payn).

Fig. 1. Jaguar diorama at American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY.
Figure 1 shows an accurate representation of a jaguars ideal habitat. It doesnt show any
human interference. It depicts the jaguar at the top of the food chain when it isnt because
humans are. If this was truly accurate there would be a city or town somewhere visible. The
diorama also shows the jaguars in detail, to demonstrate what kind of animals they are. It shows
their muscular powerful bodies, but also you get a sense of their importance of these animals.
There is also an irony in this diorama because the animals are shown as powerful and at the top.
In reality they are skins of a dead jaguar that has been stuffed.
When I was researching my topic I often found that the language was mostly positive
toward jaguars, and it was negative when talking about the human effects. The only time people

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blamed jaguars was when they were killing the peoples cattle. If people notice the problems they
are causing to these animals, why dont they try to fix them?
So how are jaguars effected by humans? The answer is that they are affecting their
population and habitat in a negative way. People are changing the world every day, but they
rarely think of the effects on the animals who we share this planet with. Jaguars are becoming
smaller in their population, and so is their habitat. We have already pushed them out of the U.S.
What place are they going to lose next? No one knows but soon the jaguar could be just another
extinct animal.

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Works Cited
Boron, Valerial, Tzanopoulos, Joseph, Gallo, Jenny, Barragan, Jorge, Jaimes-Rodriguez, Laura,
Schaller, George, Payn, Esteban. Jaguar Densities across Human-Dominated
Landscapes in Colombia: The Contribution of Unprotected Areas to Long Term
Conservation. Vol. 11 Issue 5, 2016, p1-14. 14p.
Cambridge University Press. Foraging ecology of jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma
concolor) in hunted and non-hunted sites within the Maya Biosphere Reserve,
Guatemala. www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-zoology/article/foragingecology-of-jaguar-panthera-onca-and-puma-puma-concolor-in-hunted-and-non-huntedsites-within-the-maya-biosphere-reserveguatemala/430235705EECEAE9D7FEAB6BF01BC05F. Accessed November 14, 2016.
Cavelier, Ines, Garcia, Ximena, Acevedo, German. Jaguar Corridor Lights Up Eastern
Colombia. Frontlines. September 19, 2016.
Fact Sheet Jaguar. Defenders of Wildlife. December 14, 2016. Web. December 16, 2016.
Wultsch, Claudia, Caragiulo, Anthony, Dias-Freedman, Isabela, Quigley, Howard, Rabinowitz,
Salisa, Amato, George. Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Mesoamerican
Jaguars (Panthera onca): Implications for Conservation and Management. PLoS ONE.
Vol. 11 Issue 10, 2016, p1-25. 25p.