Jaguars declining across much of their entire range. Having disappeared from from almost the entire USA, and significantly depleted in Mexico, the Jaguar is beginning to decline in its strongholds of the Amazon Basin.
Ecuador is one of the countries that plays host to the Amazon rainforest. As such as they have increased their coffee and cocoa plantations they have reduced the habitat for jaguars.
However as with lions in Africa and tigers in India the jaguar is a keystone species in the Amazon rainforest. When the Jaguar disappears, rodents and small mammals that it eat explode in numbers. These extra rodents eat more seeds and plants, and as a result far fewer plants are able to grow. As such the disappearance of the jaguar can actually impact the trees and forests themselves. This means that as in previous articles talking about the disappearance of Forest elephants in Africa, the fact that Jaguars are missing can increase the likelihood of a collapse in the rainforest itself.
While parts of Ecuador still have healthy populations of jaguars, the coastal population is different. Along much of the coast the Jaguar is functionally extinct, only in Cotacachi-Cayapas national park, in the northern province of Esmeraldas does a healthy population still exist
Of particular concern is the investments made by the Chinese, as similar investments in other parts of the world have led to a significant rise in poaching. Thankfully in Ecuador poaching is not established, however hunting for meat is and in places this can leave too little food for the Jaguars to survive.
Thankfully amongst the local population Jaguars are still a source of pride and conservationist believe that they can be saved right across the country.