Habitat and Distribution The jaguar, which swims well, is strongly associated with the presence of water. Habitats meeting this requirement range from rainforest to seasonally flooded swamp areas (Pantanal and Llanos), pampas grassland, thorn scrub woodland (Chaco), and dry deciduous forest. In Belize, Rabinowitz (1991a) found that jaguars were more abundant in lowland areas of relatively dense forest cover with permanent water sources than in open, seasonally dry forests. In the Brazilian Pantanal, riparian forest was strongly preferred to open grassy areas (Crawshaw and Quigley 1991). Although jaguars have been reported from elevations as high as 3,800 m (Costa Rica: Vaughan 1983), jaguars typically avoid montane forest (Emmons 1991), and have not been found in the high plateau of central Mexico (Leopold 1959) or above 2,700 m in the Andes (Guggisberg 1975, Olrog and Lucero 1981). The historical range of the jaguar extended from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in the United States south to either the Río Negro (40°S) or Río Santa Cruz (50°S) in Argentina (Arra 1974, Carman 1984). Formerly occupied habitat in the north of its range included oak woodland, mesquite thickets and riparian forests (Brown 1991). In the north, the jaguar’s range has receded southward about 1,000 km, and has been reduced in area by about 67%. In South America, the jaguar’s range has receded northward by well over 2,000 km, and has been reduced by about 38% (Swank and Teer 1987)

© 1996 IUCN - The World Conservation Union