ISSN 1027-2992

CAT
news
N° 57 | AUTUMN 2012
02

CATnews is the newsletter of the Cat Specialist Group, Editors: Christine & Urs Breitenmoser
a component of the Species Survival Commission SSC of the Co-chairs IUCN/SSC
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is pub- Cat Specialist Group
lished twice a year, and is available to members and the Friends of KORA, Thunstrasse 31, 3074 Muri,
the Cat Group. Switzerland
Tel ++41(31) 951 90 20
For joining the Friends of the Cat Group please contact Fax ++41(31) 951 90 40
Christine Breitenmoser at ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch <urs.breitenmoser@ivv.unibe.ch>
<ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch>
Original contributions and short notes about wild cats are welcome
Send contributions and observations to Contributing Editor: Peter Jackson
ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch. 7 Lake Close, London SW19 7EG
United Kingdom
Guidelines for authors are available at www.catsg.org/catnews Tel/Fax: ++44 (20) 89 47 01 59
<peterfr.jackson@virgin.net>
CATnews is produced with financial assistance from Friends of
the Cat Group. Associate Editors: Keith Richmond
Brian Bertram
Design: barbara surber, werk’sdesign gmbh Sultana Bashir
Layout: Christine Breitenmoser Javier Pereira
Print: Stämpfli Publikationen AG, Bern, Switzerland
Cover Photo: Female jaguar with two cubs
ISSN 1027-2992 in the Gran Chaco, Bolivia
Photo: Daniel Alarcón, Bolivia

The designation of the geographical entities in this publication, and the representation of the material, do not imply the expression of any
opinion whatsoever on the part of the IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or its authorities, or concerning
the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

CATnews 57 Autumn 2012

 original contribution

FRANCESCA BELEM LOPES PALMEIRA1* AND CRISTIANO TRAPÉ TRINCA1,2 events of livestock depredation by large cats

Jaguar poisoning in southern

and to examine fresh carcasses of animals
attacked to identify the predators. Whenever

Brazilian Amazonia
possible, we recorded the date, place, gen-
der, age, and body weight (kg) of large cats
killed in retaliation for livestock losses. All
We have recorded jaguar Panthera onca poisoning in retaliation for livestock dep- events described below were observed by
redation on ranches in Southern Brazilian Amazonia. This manuscript presents an- us while accompanied by at least a key infor-
ecdotal information about jaguar poisoning obtained during a systematic survey of mant and the rancher who poisoned the jagu-
livestock depredation by large cats. Ranchers have applied various types of poisons ar. For each case of poisoning, the ranchers
to livestock carcasses in an effort to kill jaguars. In addition, non-target species have mentioned the commercial name of the pro-
been affected, including wild and domestic animals. duct, quantity (ml) used and the application
method. Subsequently we investigated other
Cattle ranching has disproportionately inc- (9°00' to 10°30' S and 57°30' to 58°40' W), types of poisons that could be applied to li-
reased deforestation in Southern Amazonia, in the north of the state of Mato Grosso, in vestock carcasses to kill predators. Undoub-
and as it expands, there are more cattle in Southern Brazilian Amazonia (Fig. 1). The mu- tedly the active participation of local people
habitats where jaguars live, and natural prey nicipality has an area of 9,531 km² and appro- was the principal factor in the success of this
is less abundant due to habitat destruction or ximately 6,950 inhabitants, of which approxi- survey.
competition for food. Consequently, jaguars mately 30% live in the urban area and 70% in
have been killed in retaliation for livestock the rural area. The demographic density is ap- Results and Discussion
depredation (Michalski et al. 2006) or even proximately 0.72 inhabitants/km². The area is Through the help of key informants and ran-
during chance encounters (Trinca & Ferrari inside the frontier of colonization, called the chers, we found four jaguars poisoned by
2007, Carvalho & Pezzuti 2010). Although the ’Arc of Deforestation’, and has been rapidly carbamate (Furadan) on three cattle ranches
status and distribution of jaguars have never deforested. Most of the municipality area during three different events from December
been assessed in many parts of the Amazon consists of cattle ranches, rural settlements 2007 to February 2008 (Table 1, Fig. 2 and Fig.
Forest (Sanderson et al. 2002), there are high- and crops. There has also been intensive log- 3). On one occasion a female jaguar and her
ly suitable conditions for their occurrence in ging exploitation and gold mining. young were poisoned (Fig. 3). All the jaguars
this biome (Ferraz et al. 2012, Tôrres et al. were apparently in good health and without
2012). Also, the most prominent conflict zone Methods body, skull or teeth injuries. The use of poison
09
between cattle ranchers and jaguar conser- During the first phase of the Jaguar Juruena to eliminate jaguars might induce non-target
vation is concentrated mainly at the ‘Arc of Program from September 2007 to July 2008, killing of other species, especially scavengers
Deforestation’ in Southern Brazilian Amazo- we visited regularly 35 rural properties to and domestic animals. In two different in-
nia (Silveira et al. 2008). monitor recent cases of livestock attacked by stances we recorded a lesser yellow-headed
Here we report the use of poisons that ran- large cats and to assess local opinion on how vulture Cathartes melambrotus and a dome-
chers apply to livestock carcasses to kill jagu- to reduce such losses. Initially, we contacted stic dog feeding on the contaminated live-
ars and other predators in Southern Brazilian some key informants and told them about our stock carcasses. In the latter case we saw
Amazonia. Other cases of large cat poisoning survey, requesting them to help us during our the dog die immediately after ingesting part
have been recorded across the world, proving fieldwork. Our principal goal was to check of the carcass. Also, we observed hundreds
this to be a global issue. Most of these were
cases involving lion Panthera leo poisoning
around Makgadikgadi Pan National Park in
Botswana (Hemson et al. 2009) and on com-
munal lands in Kenya (Hazzah et al. 2009,
Frank 2011). Other cases include large cats
and carnivores poisoned in the Ewaso regi-
on in Kenya (Romañach et al. 2011), snow
leopards Panthera uncia poisoned in settle-
ments around Hemis National Park in India
(Jackson & Wangchuk 2004), and Iberian lynx
Lynx pardinus poisoned in Spain (Rodriguez &
Delibes 2004). In addition, other mammal and
bird species have been poisoned in the Czech
Republic (Novotny et al. 2011).

Study area
This study was carried out on ranches sur-
rounding the Juruena National Park, located Fig. 1. Location of study area in the Municipality of the Nova Bandeirantes, in the north
in the municipality of Nova Bandeirantes of the State of Mato Grosso (MT), Southern Brazilian Amazonia (Source: ICV, 2006).

CATnews 57 Autumn 2012

 Palmeira & Trinca
Table 1. Jaguars found intoxicated by carbamate from December 2007 to February
2008.
Case/ Weight Quantity of
Month Gender Age (years)
Ranch (kg) poison (ml)
#1* December 2007 F Adult (4) - 12
#2 January 2008 F Adult (3) 50 20
#3 February 2008 F Adult (5) 65 30
#3 February 2008 M Young (1,5~2) 50 30
* Age class and apparent conditions were based on cranial analysis (skull and teeth).
of dead flies on the contaminated carcasses, Ranchers reported the use of several com-
demonstrating that poisoning affects a wide mercial products to poison predators, such
variety of non-target species. Consequently, as Furadan, Azodrin, and Folidol. These pro-
local people are at risk of becoming exposed ducts are not recommended for domestic
to various types of poisons; on two occasions use because their toxicological classification
we observed children standing very close to is class I (highly toxic) and are considered
the contaminated carcasses. neurotoxic pesticides that are very toxic to
We also recorded two other events during humans, livestock and wildlife. Also, these
informal conversations with ranchers and lo- substances are known to leach through the
cal people. On 04 March 2008, on ranch no. 2 soil and have been found in groundwater as a
there was another case of poisoning where result of agricultural use (Otieno et al. 2010a,
the victim was a puma Puma concolor, which Banaee 2012, Donovan et al. 2012).
was identified by its footprints and the cove- Although jaguar poisoning has been used,
red livestock carcass. On this occasion the unlike shooting or trapping it is not a matter
substance applied (Roundup) was not toxic of pride for the executor who prefers to keep
enough to kill the target animal (at least not quiet about it. Consequently, we believe that
10 immediately) but induced vomiting next to poisoning may be much more common than
the livestock carcass. In addition, the act of we have recorded considering the enormous
poisoning was not only extended to carnivo- difficulty of detecting and identifying con-
res but also to ungulates that attacked field taminated carcasses. A similar feeling was
crops in rural settlements. At another time a observed among the Maasai people in Kenya
householder laced piles of corn with poison, where lion poisoning was carried out in sec-
thus causing the deaths of an entire herd of ret (Hazzah et al. 2009). Because of this, some
white-lipped peccaries Tayassu pecari. studies have assessed the silent poisoning of
Fig 2. Case # 1 recorded on December 01, 2007 (Photo: Jaguar Juruena).
wildlife through carcasses necropsied using
forensic analyses (Allen et al. 1996, Elliott et
al. 1996, Otieno et al. 2010b), which are much
more expensive and require considerably
more effort and time than interviews. Thus,
the next step will be to assess thoroughly
the use of different types of poison by local
people, the application sites and methods,
the potential human exposure, and the pos-
sible effects on the environment as a whole.
It is necessary to have a more comprehensi-
ve understanding of the use of poison in the
area and its impact on jaguars and wildlife
in general.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Wildlife Conservation Society/Ja-
guar Small Grants Program (WCS), People’s Trust
for Endangered Species (PTES), Liz Claiborne Art
Ortenberg Jaguar Small Grant (Panthera Founda-
tion) and Idea Wild for their support. We are very
grateful to our key informants and ranchers for
their information on jaguar poisoning, Dr. Angelo
Zanaga Trapé (UNICAMP) for his technical com-
ments about Furadan characteristics and Camila
Camara Pianca for her suggestions and English
revision. Also, we would like to thank Javier A. Pe-
reira and anonymous reviewers for their precious
comments.
References
Allen G. T., Veatch J. K., Stroud R. K., Vendel C.
G., Poppenga R. H., Lynn T., Shafer J. A. & Bra-
selton W. E. 1996. Winter poisoning of coyotes
and raptors with furadan-laced carcass baits.
Journal of Wildlife Diseases 32, 385-389.
Banaee M. 2012. Adverse effect of insecticides
on various aspects of fish’s biology and phy-
siology. In Insecticides – Basic and other appli-
cations. Soloneski S. & Larramendy M. (Eds).
InTech, Rijeka, Croatia, pp. 101-126.
Carvalho E. A. R. Jr. & Pezzuti J. C. B. 2010. Hun-
ting of jaguars and pumas in the Tapajós-Ara-
piuns Extractive Reserve, Brazilian Amazonia.
Oryx 44, 610-612.
Donovan S., Taggart M. & Richards N. 2012. An
overview of the chemistry, manufacture,
environmental fate and detection of carbo-
furan. In Carbofuran and wildlife poisoning:
global perspectives and forensic approaches.
Richards N. (Ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Chichester, United Kingdom, pp. 1-18. DOI:
10.1002/9781119998532.ch1.
Elliott J. E., Langelier K. M., Mineau P. & Wilson
L. K. 1996. Poisoning of Bald eagles and Red-
tailed hawks by carbofuran and fensulfothion
in the Fraser Delta of British Columbia, Cana-
da. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 32, 486-491.
CATnews 57 Autumn 2012
 jaguar poisoning in southern Brazilian Amazonia

Ferraz K. M. P. M. B., Paula R. C., Beisiegel B.,

Moraes Jr. E. A., Cavalcanti S. M. & Oliveira
T. G. 2012. Adequabilidade ambiental dos bio-
mas brasileiros à ocorrência da onça-pintada.
In Plano de Ação Nacional para a Conserva-
ção da Onça-Pintada. Série Espécies Amea-
çadas. Paula R. C., Desbiez A. & Cavalcanti S.
M. C. (Orgs). ICMBio, Brasília.
Frank L. 2011. Living with lions: lessons from Laiki-
pia. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 632,
73-83.
Hazzah L., Mulder M. B. & Frank L. 2009. Lions
and warriors: social factors underlying decli-
ning African lion populations and the effect of
incentive-based management in Kenya. Biolo-
gical Conservation 142, 2428-2437.
Hemson G., Maclennan S., Mills G., Johnson P. &
Macdonald D. 2009. Community, lions, live-
stock and money: a spatial and social analysis
of attitudes to wildlife and the conservation Fig 3. Case # 2 recorded on 15 January 2008 (Photo Jaguar Juruena).
value of tourism in a human-carnivore conflict
in Botswana. Biological Conservation 142,
2718-2725.
ICV (Instituto Centro e Vida). 2006. Proposta de Cri-
ação do Parque Nacional do Juruena: análises
e considerações. Cuiabá, Brazil. 23pp.
Jackson R. M. & Wangchuck R. 2004. A commu-
nity-based approach to mitigating livestock
depredation by snow leopards. Human Dimen-
11
sions of Wildlife 9, 307-315.
Michalski F., Boulhosa R. L. P., Faria A. & Peres C.
A. 2006. Human-wildlife conflicts in a frag-
mented Amazonian forest landscape: determi-
nants of large felid depredation on livestock.
Animal Conservation 9, 179-188.
Novotný L., Misík J., Honzlová A., Ondráček P., Kuča
K., Vávra O., Rachač V & Chloupek P. 2011. In-
cidental poisoning of animals by carbamates in
the Czech Republic. Journal of Applied Biome-
dicine 9, 157-161. Fig 4. Case # 3: An adult female and her male young poisoned with carbamate applied
Otieno P. O., Lalah J. O., Virani M., Jondiko I. O. & to a foal carcass recorded on 2 February 2008 (Photo Jaguar Juruena).
Schramm K-W. 2010a. Soil and water contami-
nation with carbofuran residues in agricultural Romañach S. S., Lindsey P. A. & Woodroffe R. 2011. tes of population densities? A case study with
farmlands in Kenya following the application Attitudes toward predators and options for their jaguars in the Neotropics. Diversity and Distri-
of the technical formulation Furadan. Journal conservation in the Ewaso Ecosystem. Smithso- butions 18, 615-627.
of Environmental Science and Health Part B 45, nian Contribution to Zoology 632, 85-93. Trinca C. T. & Ferrari S. F. 2007. Game populati-
137-144. Sanderson E. W., Redford K. H., Chetkiewicz C. ons and hunting pressure on a rural frontier in
Otieno P. O., Lalah J. O., Virani M., Jondiko L. B., Medellin R. A., Rabinowitz A., Robinson Southern Brazilian Amazonia. Biologia Geral
I. O. & Schramm K-W. 2010b. Carbofuran J. G. & Taber A. B. 2002. Planning to save a Experimental 7, 5-16.
and its toxic metabolites provide forensic species: the jaguar as a model. Conservation
1
evidence for furadan exposure in Vultures Biology 16, 58-72. Jaguar Juruena (www.jaguarjuruena.com),
(Gyps africanus) in Kenya. Bulletin of Env- Silveira L., Boulhosa R. L. P., Astete S., & Jácomo Rua João Braz Alvez, QD 04, Lote 16, Japuranã,
ironmental Contamination and Toxicology A. T. A. 2008. Management of domestic live- Nova Bandeirantes, MT, CEP 78565-000, Brazil
84, 536-544. stock predation by jaguars in Brazil. Cat News *<yagouaroundi@yahoo.com.br>
2
Rodríguez A. & Delibes M. 2004. Patterns and cau- Special Issue 4, 26-30. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências
ses of non-natural mortality in the Iberian lynx Tôrres N. M., De Marco Jr. P., Santos T., Silveira L., Biológicas (Zoologia), Universidade Federal
during a 40-year period of range contraction. Jácomo A. T. A. & Diniz-Filho J. A. F. 2012. Can da Paraíba (UFPB), João Pessoa, PB,
Biological Conservation 118, 151-161. species distribution modelling provide estima- CEP 58059-900, Brazil

CATnews 57 Autumn 2012