Keeping Panama's Land Bridge Open for Jaguars

Fundación Yaguará Panamá was founded in 2006 by wildlife biologist Ricardo Moreno to study jaguars and reduce conflict with the ranchers who share their habitat along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor's narrowest stretch. Its teams have surveyed roughly 141,000 hectares of core protected area across Chagres and Darién National Parks using camera traps and GPS collars, fitting eight jaguars with collars to map their movements and territories. The foundation works directly with cattle ranchers in Darién to install solar-powered electric fencing and warning collars for livestock, replacing retaliatory killings with coexistence measures. A 2024 assessment estimated roughly 280 jaguars still move through the Chagres-Darién landscape, even though the region has already lost over 40 percent of its historic jaguar habitat.