A Suitable Home for Antonio: A Community-Based Biocultural Corridor for Wild Felid Conservation in Private Reserves within the Serranía de los Paraguas KBA, Colombia

National funding sources have primarily supported top-down initiatives, with plans designed outside the territory by external groups. Through a bottom-up approach, an initial pathway has been developed to address level 1 HWCs, involving environmental authorities, agricultural extension units, and grassroots farmer organizations. This has facilitated the collection of reports on jaguar presence and attacks on domestic animals, enhancing our understanding of how jaguars use the territory. Between September and November, the group designed a pilot regional community-based monitoring of wild mammals using trap cameras (TC) within water resource conservation areas and private reserves, recording Antonio after two years since his last sighting. In 2025 (or 2026).

We aim to expand our planning to a more operational and administrative scale through the Plan4Coex approach, building on the positive partial results achieved so far.

Through community-based biodiversity monitoring, many new, endemic, and/or endangered species of plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals have been recorded, contributing to scientific knowledge and the implementation of technologies that support wildlife identification and habitat conservation.

A notable result of this effort is the documentation of six out of the seven felid species of Colombia within the area, including the rediscovery of the jaguar in the Andean region of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Antonio, identified as an individual preying on livestock, has been tracked, revealing a movement route. We intend to explore this route as a landscape management strategy by implementing a robust trap camera monitoring program to identify potential anthropogenic impacts on wild mammals.

Most environmental education approaches developed in the territory to address human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) have focused on providing information about the ecology of wild cats and promoting short-term deterrent methods. However, these activities have shown limited contribution to fostering long-term coexistence. In contrast, experiences that involve more in-depth processes—such as the active participation of local community  in wildlife monitoring and the implementation of adaptive livestock management strategies on private reserves—have demonstrated positive effects on behavioral change, particularly among former hunters.

The predation of domestic animals by wild predators has been addressed by local authorities and external foundations as a technical issue, through the implementation of “anti-predation strategies” such as electric fences, corrals, and other protective measures. However, these actions are rarely monitored for effectiveness or continuity and often end with the conclusion of contracts with private implementing entities. Our experience has shown that these measures are more effective when focused on improving farm productivity and the quality of life of small-scale farmers, based on the specific context of each property. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation are more sustainable and efficient when carried out by local actors such as agricultural extension units, environmental authorities, and community-based organizations, increasing the likelihood of long-term success and continuity of these strategies.

We have implementing replicable technological strategies to mitigate economical losses by wild felids predation reaching a reduction of the 100% of attacks from cougar and jaguar over cattle in the Cerro El Inglés Communitary reserve, protecting vulnerable individuals by solar powered electric fences and motion-sensor lights and limiting the access of domestic animals to the forest by technifying water provision for livestock and solar powered electric fences. Having a demonstrative and replicable system used for education purposes with farmers from the region.