Check List 21(3): 544-551, doi: 10.15560/21.3.544
Big cats (Carnivora, Felidae) still walking in Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve: a forgotten Jaguar Conservation Unit in northeastern Guatemala
Luis A. Trujillo‡§, Alejandro Mármol-Kattán‡, Cristina Abugarade‡, Adriana Rivera-Sandoval‡, Cristina Chaluleu-Baeza|, Raquel Leonardo‡, Diana Mansilla‡§, Allison Trinidad§‡, Claudia Quijivix§‡, Isabel Martínez§, Cristina Escobar‡, Rocío Paz‡, Andrid Ramírez‡, Bárbara I. Escobar-Anleu§¶#, Rebeca Escobar#, Rony Garcia-Anleu¤‡ Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala§ Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala| Consultora independiente, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala¶ Panthera Guatemala, New York, United States of America# World Wildlife Fund, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala¤ Wildlife Conservation Society Guatemala, Avenida 15 de marzo, Ciudad Flores, Guatemala
Corresponding author: Luis A. Trujillo ( trujillososaluis@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Diego Astúa © Luis A. Trujillo, Alejandro Mármol-Kattán, Cristina Abugarade, Adriana Rivera-Sandoval, Cristina Chaluleu-Baeza, Raquel Leonardo, Diana Mansilla, Allison Trinidad, Claudia Quijivix, Isabel Martínez, Cristina Escobar, Rocío Paz, Andrid Ramírez, Bárbara I. Escobar-Anleu, Rebeca Escobar, Rony Garcia-Anleu. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Trujillo LA, Mármol-Kattán A, Abugarade C, Rivera-Sandoval A, Chaluleu-Baeza C, Leonardo R, Mansilla D, Trinidad A, Quijivix C, Martínez I, Escobar C, Paz R, Ramírez A, Escobar-Anleu BI, Escobar R, Garcia-Anleu R (2025) Big cats (Carnivora, Felidae) still walking in Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve: a forgotten Jaguar Conservation Unit in northeastern Guatemala. Check List 21(3): 544-551. https://doi.org/10.15560/21.3.544 |  |
Abstract
The detection of Jaguars, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758), and Pumas, Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771), in the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, northeastern Guatemala, represents a pivotal step in understanding the distributional range of these apex predators in the country. Using camera traps, we documented 12 independent records of Puma and one of Jaguar, including the remarkable presence of Jaguars at elevations above 2000 m, which suggests new directions for ecological research and high‑altitude conservation strategies. These findings have important implications for the long‑term survival and conservation of these species within Jaguar Conservation Units, emphasizing the necessity of effective management measures that promote functional connectivity through habitat preservation and restoration, especially for populations outside the Mayan Biosphere Reserve.
Keywords
Conservation, elevation profile, Jaguar, functional connectivity, Puma