Panthera Foundation: Jaguar Corridor Initiative

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“The jaguar is the largest and most iconic cat in the Western Hemisphere. Human societies and cultures across the region have evolved for centuries with the jaguar, a charismatic species that has inspired rich myths and legends, and today serves as a national symbol for several Latin American countries.”-Panthera

I first became aware of this amazing foundation while conducting research for one of my rhetoric classes. I came across an article published in National Geographic magazine in the March 2009 issue entitled “Path of the Jaguar” about the Panthera Foundation’s current project: the Jaguar Corridor Initiative. Mel White writes about Rabinowitz’s journey to create a safe passage for the jaguar through its homeland, “stretching from Mexico (and formerly the United States) to Argentina” (White); yet, this is not a new idea. The Wildlife Conservation Society paved the way for Rabinowitz in 1990 when it “launched a project called the Paseo Pantera (Spanish for ‘path of the panther’), a network of protected areas and wildlife corridors that became known as the Mesoamerica Biological Corridor (CBM) in 1997” (WCS). Many conservationists, however, were concerned with “its slow implementation and highly ambitious agenda” (WCS). Nowadays, Rabinowitz is having more success than the Wildlife Conservation Society did back in 1990. Rabinowitz and the Panthera Foundation have successfully protected the Mesoamerica component of the Jaguar Corridor, but will have to work even harder when it comes to South America “where landscapes and political situations are more diverse and challenging” (White).

Today, Panthera is still hard at work trying to make Alan Rabinowitz’s dream come true. In 2011, the goal is still the same; however, the problems are also still the same. As Panthera points out, “Jaguars, like many large, free-ranging wildlife species, are not constrained by political boundaries, nor are they as challenged or constrained by physical ones. Jaguars use and require protected areas, where their core populations can thrive” (Jaguar Corridor Initiative). Having safe passage from point A to point B sounds simple, but when these big cats move “through landscapes, across rivers, over hills and mountain passes and even through areas with human development” (JCI) things can get much more complex. Amongst the landscapes and rivers there may also be the occasional cattle ranch, citrus plantation, or someone’s backyard- anywhere jaguars can pass through safely and unharmed double as a jaguar corridor (JCI).

The three main problems that brought about a need for the Jaguar Corridor Initiative are:

1.      Dramatic habitat loss and fragmentation from wild lands being converted into agriculture

a.       With isolated patches of land, jaguars run the risk of being confined and are at greater risk for extinction.

2.      Direct hunting by people

a.       Ranchers especially because they see jaguars as a threat to their livelihood

3.      Lack of natural prey, like deer and wild pigs, due to overhunting by humans and habitat loss

a.       This fuels conflict between humans and jaguars because it forces the big cats to prey on domestic animals

The solution will not be easy to come by but with Panthera working in conjunction with “local communities, governments, and other conservation organizations every step of the way, to secure the long-term presence of jaguar populations and to ensure their safe passage from Mexico to Argentina” (JCI) it will come in time. 


In order to successfully preserve the Path of the Jaguar, the Jaguar Corridor Initiative is “built on a multi-dimensional process:”

1.      Map-based model of the jaguar’s ecological needs throughout its range.

2.      “Ground-truthing” corridors to verify where the jaguars are and where they are moving through

3.      Managing and conserving jaguar prey species

4.      Helping ranchers with livestock husbandry improvements

5.      Working with local communities to alleviate conflict between humans and jaguars

6.      Assisting governments with protected area management

As of now, jaguars exist in a total of 18 countries in Latin America and Panthera currently works in 13 of those countries, with plans to move into an additional two countries in the coming year (Panther’s Jaguar Footprint).  The 13 countries are: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. To see what Panthera is doing to expand the Jaguar Corridor Initiative in these 13 countries, please visit Panthera’s Jaguar Footprint.