Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) Classification

Aim: Planning conservation action requires accurate estimates of abundance and distribution of the target species. For many mammals, particularly those inhabiting tropical forests, there are insufficient data to assess their conservation status. We present a framework for predicting species distribution using jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), a poorly known felid for which basic information on abundance and distribution is lacking. Location Mesoamerica and South America. Time Period From 2003 to 2021. Taxa Herpailurus yagouaroundi.

Methods: We combined camera‐trap data from multiple sites and used an occupancy modelling framework accounting for imperfect detection to identify habitat associations and predict the range‐wide distribution of jaguarundis.

Results: Our model predicted that the probability of jaguarundi occupancy is positively associated with rugged terrain, herbaceous cover, and human night‐time light intensity. Jaguarundi occupancy was predicted to be higher where precipitation was less seasonal, and at intermediate levels of diurnal temperature range. Our camera data also revealed additional detections of jaguarundis beyond the current International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) range distribution, including the Andean foothills of Colombia and Bolivia.

Main Conclusion: Occupancy was predicted to be low throughout much of Amazonian lowlands, a vast area at the centre of jaguarundi known range. Further work is required to investigate whether this area represents sub‐optimal conditions for the species. Overall, we estimate a crude global jaguarundi population of 35,000 to 230,000 individuals, covering 4,453,406 km² of Meso‐ and South America at the 0.5 probability level of occupancy. Our current framework allows for an initially detailed, well‐informed species distribution that should be challenged and refined with improved habitat layers and additional records of jaguarundi detection. We encourage similar studies of lesser‐known mammals, pooling existing by‐catch data from the growing bank of camera‐trap surveys around the world.

Harmsen, Bart & Williams, Sara & Abarca, María & Álvarez, Francisco & Araya-Gamboa, Daniela & Ávila, Hefer & Barrantes‐Núñez, Mariano & Bravata‐de la Cruz, Yaribeth & Broadfield, Joleen & Cabral‐Araújo, Valquíria & Calderon, Ana & Castañeda, Franklin & Corrales-Gutiérrez, Daniel & Couto‐Peret Dias, Bárbara & Marinho, Paulo & Devlin, Allison & Escobar-Anleu, Bárbara & Espinoza‐Muñoz, Deiver & Esser, Helen & Robinson, Hugh. (2024). Estimating species distribution from camera trap by‐catch data, using jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) as an example. Diversity and Distributions. 30. 10.1111/ddi.13831.

In today's increasingly degraded world, private lands are becoming integral components of wildlife conservation. The Caatinga biome possesses the largest tropical dry forest in the Americas; however, it has experienced high levels of habitat loss. Natural vegetation cover in this biome is highly fragmented, and the few protected areas tend to be privately-owned. In this context, carnivores are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic threats. Identifying factors that influence carnivore habitat selection in privately-owned areas is crucial for effective conservation actions.

To this end, we assessed the habitat preferences of northern tiger cats (Leopardus tigrinus), jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), crab-eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous), and crab-eating raccoons (Procyon cancrivorus) on a private reserve in the Caatinga. We sampled the area with camera traps during a 4-year period and examined habitat use patterns through occupancy models.

Caatinga cover was strongly favoured by northern tiger cats. Areas near human household had higher jaguarundi occupancy and crab-eating fox detection. Edge effects did not influence any of the species.

The results suggest that in the absence of poaching and provided there is enough natural vegetation cover left, private lands indeed have potential conservation value for some carnivorous species. Nevertheless, because these areas tend to be small, connectivity with larger habitat patches is important for long-term conservation.

Fox-Rosales, L.; de Oliveira, T.G.
Habitat use patterns and conservation of small carnivores in a human-dominated landscape of the semiarid Caatinga in Brazil
2022 Mammalian Biology

Loss and degradation of natural habitats continue to increase across the tropics as a result of agricultural expansion. Consequently, there is an urgent need to understand their effects, and the distribution and habitat requirements of wildlife within human-modified landscapes, to support the conservation of threatened species, such as felids.

We combined camera trapping and land cover data into occupancy models to study the habitat use and space partitioning by four sympatric felid species in an agricultural landscape in Colombia. Land use in the area includes cattle ranching and oil palm cultivation, the latter being an emerging land use type in the Neotropics.

Factors determining species occupancy were the presence of wetlands for jaguars (positive effect); water proximity for pumas (positive effect); and presence of pastures for ocelots and jaguarundis (negative effect). Only ocelots were occasionally recorded in oil palm areas.

Our results suggest that to align development with the conservation of top predators it is crucial to maintain areas of forest and wetland across agricultural landscapes and to restrict agricultural and oil palm expansion to modified areas such as pastures, which are of limited conservation value. Because there is no spatial segregation between the felid species we studied, conservation strategies that benefit all of them are possible even in modified landscapes.

Boron, V.; Xofis, P.; Link, A.; Payan, E.; Tzanopoulos, J.
Conserving predators across agricultural landscapes in Colombia: habitat use and space partitioning by jaguars, pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis
2018 Oryx: 1-10

The jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) is a small Neotropical cat that presents two main coloration phenotypes (grey/dark vs. reddish). Although these coat colour variants have been known for decades, and historically speculated to be associated with different habitats, their exact geographical distribution has never been mapped. Moreover, their association to different habitats has so far not been tested statistically, so that their ecological relevance with respect to varying environmental features remains unknown.

Based on 566 location records encompassing the entire historical range of the species obtained from camera-traps, captures and skins held in scientific collections, we produced suitability models for both jaguarundi phenotypes using maximum entropy algorithms of niche modelling. The frequency of grey/dark jaguarundis is c. 80%, whereas reddish animals represent c. 20% of our overall sample set. However, there were marked differences in these frequencies across regions. Although the spatial distribution of grey/dark animals did not depart substantially from random expectations (as it encompassed the whole species range), the occurrence of the ancestral reddish form was strongly and significantly non-random.

In spite of their broad distribution across multiple habitats, grey/dark animals were significantly associated with moist and dense forests, whereas reddish forms were associated with dry and open areas such as deserts and xeric landscapes. Furthermore, there were clear spatial differences in the suitability models generated for these coat colour phenotypes.

We also employed the distribution models to investigate whether particular environmental predictors could explain these different distributions. Predictors related to moisture were especially influential on the differences between the grey/dark and reddish models, and demonstrate an effect of natural selection on coloration traits, suggesting that a complex interplay of different ecological processes regulates this system over evolutionary time.

da Silva, L.G.; de Oliveira, T.G.; Kasper, C.B.; Cherem, J.J.; Moraes, E.A.J.; Paviolo, A.; Eizirik, E.
Biogeography of polymorphic phenotypes: Mapping and ecological modelling of coat colour variants in an elusive Neotropical cat, the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi)
2016  Journal of Zoology (299): 295-303

1. The ecology of the jaguarundi is poorly known, so I reviewed the literature for all original data and remarks on jaguarundi observations, ecology, and behaviour, to synthesize what is known about the species.

2. Jaguarundis occupy and use a range of habitats with dense undergrowth from northern Mexico to central Argentina, but may be most abundant in seasonal dry, Atlantic, gallery, and mixed grassland/agricultural forest landscapes.

3. Jaguarundis are principally predators of small (sigmodontine) rodents, although other mammals, birds, and squamate reptiles are taken regularly.

4. The vast majority of jaguarundi camera-trap records occurred during daylight hours (0600 h-1800 h); jaguaurndis are also predominantly terrestrial, although they appear to be capable tree climbers.

5. Home range sizes for jaguarundis vary greatly, but most are .25 km2; females' territories may be much smaller than or similar in size to those of males. Males may concentrate movements in one area before shifting to another and, as with other felids, intersexual overlap in habitat use appears to be common.

6. Interference competition may be important in influencing the distribution and ecology of jaguarundis, although their diurnal habits may somewhat mitigate its effect.

7. Conflict between humans and jaguarundis over small livestock may be widespread among rural human communities and is likely to be under-reported. Despite this conflict, jaguarundis can persist in agriculturally modified landscapes and small forest fragments.

8. Additional research on local jaguarundi populations from more areas should be a priority to determine the true status of the species.

Giordano, A.J.
Ecology and status of the jaguarundi Puma yagouaroundi: a synthesis of existing knowledge
2015 Mammal Review (46): 30-43