Solutions for human-jaguar coexistence through improvements in livestock farms and the use of technology in communities adjacent to the Alto Darién Protected Forest.

The first thing we did was to talk to two teachers who own a cattle ranch in Agua Buena de Chucunaque, they are leaders. They told us the history of the site, so that we could understand the dynamics of the area and see if what is happening there has the same pattern as in other places with conflict. Then they supported us in making the call. It is easier to attract people through someone the community respects. On the 14 kilometers of road we always take the windows of the car down and greet people and if they need a ride to the entrance or to the farm we do it, because this creates bonds and trust, because it allows us to talk more with them. The teachers and we went house to house to tell the people at the meeting about the jaguars and other activities. The talk is presented, we give a space for each one of them to express themselves about how they perceive the jaguar and what has been happening in the area, and how they think they could minimize the conflict. After the community has expressed itself, we explain to them what we can do together, then we carry out the training and create stronger links and trust with the communities. Trust is the key to making the project work and it is a step-by-step process.

In Panama, farms are culturally extensive and without good livestock practices. The management plans that Yaguará Panama seeks to support producers in having a better sustainable use of the land, under intensive management so that the paddocks are small (with more small keepers they walk less and feed better, without spending a lot of energy) and the animals are healthy and in better condition. In the case of cows with calves, a corral is prepared to reduce predation, since we know that the most vulnerable animals are the cows with calves.

Anti-predation measures include: electric fences powered by a solar panel, collars with bells for the cows as an auditory and luminous repellent because they have lights that are activated at night.

The plans have a map of current and future use so that the producer can appreciate the changes and is taught to keep track of what is happening on the farm, only in this way will he be able to see how the changes are occurring and at what point he begins to have a real gain in livestock production.

An important change is that now the paddocks have water for the animals to drink; usually they do not and when the cows go to the river they get stuck or are preyed upon by jaguars.

One of the interesting aspects of this project is to measure the biodiversity in each of the farms and to know how many jaguars there are or cross the farms. For this we monitor them with camera traps. As each jaguar has unique spotting patterns for each individual, it is possible to know how many there are and record when they are in the different farms. In addition, we combine the camera traps with GPS collars that we place on the jaguars on the farms to know where they move, how many farms they visit and how much time they spend on the farm. This helps us understand the jaguar dynamics in an environment dominated by cattle ranchers and forest corridors between farms.

With the data from the camera traps and GPS collars we have been able to give the community a better understanding of the jaguar and why it is an important species for the ecosystems and for our own existence as human beings.

Based on the information collected we can measure indicators such as: number of jaguars per year and abundance of other mammals that are important prey for the jaguar, and we can help local and national decision makers and farm management decision makers.

For the Yaguará Panama Foundation, communication is vital at all levels, even though we are a science-based organization. Science must be translated to the community and to other scientists, but also in media that have real impact with communities, decision makers, students of all levels and people from a child to a senior citizen. In order to reach everyone, we communicate in international impact magazines such as National Geographic, which is seen by millions of people around the world. This project is related to the topic of agriculture and since 2014 every month we publish in a national magazine called Ecos del Agro, which reaches more than 10,000 people. We also publish in the traditional written press several articles a year. We go on radio and TV about 10 to 20 times a year, in addition to our social networks. We give virtual talks (in pandemic: more than 11,000 people have listened to our presentations), and face-to-face, workshops. If we REALLY want to reach the majority of people we must communicate in all available media, because those who watch or see one, do not see others and so on.

The regent in Ambiente is the Ministry of Environment and we have been working with them since 1998, but in 2017 we signed a cooperation agreement to minimize the jaguar-human conflict through a preventive management project to seek solutions. We have also achieved an alliance with USFWS to work farm management plans, anti-predation measures, monitoring with cameras and collars with the jaguar. We work with the Small Grants Program/UNDP/GEF and are working on a camera trap monitoring project in Darien and support/advice to community-based organizations, so that communities know how to solve and take to another level what is happening in their areas. Nat Geo supports us in the most extensive camera trap monitoring project in Panama in Darien, in addition to helping us in outreach and communications at the international level. With the Howard Huge Medical Institute (HHMI) we work in scientific research with camera traps, in addition to disseminating, communicating and educating through their digital platforms what we find in the Darien National Park. Other important alliances are the Ministry of Tourism, ANAGAN, ISA, University of Panama, UNEP. We work with some indigenous groups and more than 10 community-based organizations distributed throughout the country.