New Study Maps Jaguar Corridors Across the Americas
by Mary Dixon, Wildlife Conservation Society
October 15, 2026
A new study published in the journal Ecosphere has produced a comprehensive map of how jaguars move across the Americas, identifying previously unrecognized wildlife corridors connecting populations from Mexico to Argentina while suggesting that some historically important connections may already have been lost.
The study, led by WCS conservationist Harshad Karandikar and an international team of researchers, analyzed more than 134,000 GPS locations collected from 99 adult jaguars across five countries. The resulting analysis represents the first range-wide assessment of jaguar connectivity based on actual jaguar movement data rather than expert opinion alone.
The findings provide an important new roadmap for conserving Panthera onca, the largest cat in the Americas. By identifying landscapes that facilitate movement between key jaguar populations, the study offers guidance for governments, conservation organizations, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and land managers seeking to maintain ecological connectivity across one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions.
Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70782