Current status of genetics in captive Jaguar populations

TheEthiopianWolf03

TheEthiopianWolf03

Well-Known Member
So as I was trying to organize my life list I came to learn that there were two different subspecies of Jaguars: Peruvian and Central American. While I am sure that these designations may be different now, it made me wonder what the current status of jaguars are in zoos across the world. Are jaguars in zoos just hybrids of these two subspecies or are there zoos that actually keep one or the other?
 
While it is still debated, the latest consensus is that jaguars are a monotypic species with no distinct subspecies. After all, jaguars occur in North America also (in Mexico and sometimes into my region of southern Arizona). Clearly that is beyond the range of Central America and Peru! Jaguars in zoos are descended from founders in various countries. I have no specifics, though I do know several were imported into USA in the not too distant past. Also black jaguars are mainly known from South America, particularly the Amazon basin, and there are quite a few black jaguars in captivity.
 
Hello AD, do you have science papers or sources for the jaguar being a monotypic species with no distinct ssp.? I would be interested to read them.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Hello AD, do you have science papers or sources for the jaguar being a monotypic species with no distinct ssp.? I would be interested to read them.
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San Diego Zoo digital library has this linked page that states: "Modern genetic studies suggest no justification for defining subspecies". LibGuides: Jaguar (Panthera onca) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History At the table to the right of this they make mention of a study by "Quigley et al 2017". Here is a much more detailed scientific paper that lays out how to estimate jaguar densities and populations, though it does not specifically deal with subspecies based on my skim reading: Estimating large carnivore populations at global scale based on spatial predictions of density and distribution – Application to the jaguar (Panthera onca)
I do believe the whole issue is not entirely resolved. On a couple different occasions I have met Dr Melanie Culver, a wildlife geneticist at the University of Arizona who does a lot of work with wild cats. She told me once when I asked about jaguar subspecies that they are still investigating it.
 
Last I heard the AZA program focuses on the now invalid goldmani, which is considered apart of the Central American/Mexican subspecies, though I do not know if the entire SSP comprises of known-origin animals. However, as @Arizona Docent said, Jaguars are most likely monotypic across their range.

~Thylo
 
Phoenix Zoo imported a jaguar of Mexican (Sonoran) lineage a few years ago from the zoo in Hermosillo to give it medical treatment. They were hoping to breed it with their resident jaguar, but it was sent back to Hermosillo before any successful breeding took place. The so-called Sonoran jaguars in northern Mexico (and that occasionally cross the border here into Arizona) are certainly much smaller than the jaguars in the Pantanal and Amazon. Also they do not occur in a melanistic form as the Amazonian jaguars do (where melanism is fairly common). However it may be a cline, with a gradual reduction in size the farther north you go.
 
This is all very interesting information. So most jaguars in the US have origins in Central America if the AZA was focusing on the "subspecies"?
 
Arizona Docent said:
Phoenix Zoo imported a jaguar of Mexican (Sonoran) lineage a few years ago from the zoo in Hermosillo to give it medical treatment. They were hoping to breed it with their resident jaguar, but it was sent back to Hermosillo before any successful breeding took place. The so-called Sonoran jaguars in northern Mexico (and that occasionally cross the border here into Arizona) are certainly much smaller than the jaguars in the Pantanal and Amazon. Also they do not occur in a melanistic form as the Amazonian jaguars do (where melanism is fairly common). However it may be a cline, with a gradual reduction in size the farther north you go.
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That would be indicative and making a case for defining individual subspecies. I remain on the conservative and with the scientists looking at combined approach taxonomy/morphology/ecology and genetics to deal with the issues at hand. I would concur that differences in size and coat colour are most definitely signs of individual subspeciation.

Aside, I do think it would be useful to concentrate in the southern US and northern Mexico on working with these Sonoran/Arizonan jaguars within the AZA program. It could be a niche and interesting project to set up an ex situ component next to habitat and species recovery (yes, despite that damn wall some folks want to bring up ...). This along similar lines as the very successful bi-national cooperation on Mexican wolf recovery (admittedly this includes more than just the federal state of Arizona on the US side as well as several federal states on the Mexicon side of the border).

BTW: Thanks for linking in here with some of the recent jaguar papers, a very interesting read - yet to my mind still inconclusive as they primarily deal with population density and expected and actual occurrence and distribution over the jaguar's total historical range -. Much appreciated all the same!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
That would be indicative and making a case for defining individual subspecies. I remain on the conservative and with the scientists looking at combined approach taxonomy/morphology/ecology and genetics to deal with the issues at hand. I would concur that differences in size and coat colour are most definitely signs of individual subspeciation.
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That's not always how it works, though. It can imply subspeciation, yes, but genetics have shown that just because there's a cline or morphologically distinct population does not mean the population(s) involved is/are separate subspecies. The Florida Panther was subsumed into the nominate subspecies despite very clear differences from the rest of the North American population because all evidence apart from physical suggested that they aren't that distinct. From what I can tell, it's a similar situation with Jaguar.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
That's not always how it works, though. It can imply subspeciation, yes, but genetics have shown that just because there's a cline or morphologically distinct population does not mean the population(s) involved is/are separate subspecies. The Florida Panther was subsumed into the nominate subspecies despite very clear differences from the rest of the North American population because all evidence apart from physical suggested that they aren't that distinct. From what I can tell, it's a similar situation with Jaguar.

~Thylo
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Thylo, I appreciate your valuable insights ..., but I think the jury is still out on the jaguar (which has a much wider range), so I remain careful not to jump to conclusions to quickly. The example of the Florida panthers pertains pretty much to one subspecies of cougar/puma and when their gene-flow south-eastern puma from east TX were introduced into the FL population (it turned out there was not much between these 2 populations ..., which is unsurprising).

QUOTE
"A genetic restoration plan was implemented in 1995 with the release of eight female pumas from Texas into Florida panther habitat in southern Florida. Texas pumas (P. c. stanleyana) were the closest extant puma population to Florida and the intent of this plan was to mimic the gene flow that historically occurred between these subspecies. Five of the eight Texas pumas produced a total of at least 20 kittens. None of the original eight Texas pumas remain in the wild population today; five died from various causes and the remaining three were removed from the wild and placed in captivity after they produced a sufficient number of offspring. Subsequent analyses have already documented the beneficial impacts of genetic restoration on the genetic health of the population as well as the coinciding increase in panther abundance since 1995."
UNQOUTE

Link to the FWS: Florida Panther - Florida Panther - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service


Yet when you are talking about jaguar you are dealing with dry arid land puma from Arizona-Sonora Mexico to Pantanal jaguar versus Amazonian versus Patagonian grasslands and Andean highlands. That makes no subspeciation far less likely.
 
The two links I provided use the term subpopulation. I do agree that managing them in zoos that way is a good idea, regardless of whether or not they are technically distinct subspecies. Even if it is a continuous cline, you would still (in the event of reintroduction) presumably not want to put an Amazonian jaguar into Sonora (North Mexico & Southwest USA). I agree setting up a breeding program for Sonoran jaguars would be ideal. I know the founder of Northern Jaguar Project who lives here in Tucson; they have done amazing work creating a large jaguar preserve across the border in North Mexico and getting neighboring ranchers to stop killing cats (in a program called Viviendo Con Felinos).
 
Northern Jaguar Project sounds great. Must check it out!

Not too far off to my faves el Berrendo! I loved aside from the project, their logo and signature quote. This rang the bell: Conservar es construir futuro!
(Sounds even better in spoken Spanish than in English)

I can only but argue the same with Sonoran jaguars. Conserving our jaguars is building a future for us all.
 
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