Not all gone: the rediscovery of Jaguar (Carnivora: Felidae: Panthera onca) and records of threatened monkeys (Primates: Mammalia) in the Magdalena River Valley of Caldas Department in Colombia, a call for their conservation

Abstract

For decades, the middle Magdalena Valley of Colombia has been a scene of heavy social and civil conflict, which have resulted on a sustained and extensive expansion of the agricultural border, dedicating most lands to extensive cattle production activities.  Such extensive disturbances have led to a progressive loss and isolation of natural forests of the region, severely threatening biodiversity.  A group highly susceptible to local extinction in the middle Magdalena Valley are the large and medium mammals, because they usually require large extensions of habitat with a good degree of connectivity to be able to disperse between fragments.  In this sense, it is especially important to identify the last remnants of habitat that still persist in the middle Magdalena and that still are occupied by endemic and threatened mammal species.  Therefore, this work confirms the presence of Jaguar Panthera onca and four threatened monkeys, Ateles hybridus (Critically Endangered), Saguinus leucopus (Endangered), Cebus versicolor (Endangered), and Aotus griseimembra (Vulnerable) inside an isolated remnant of tropical rainforest called “Ciénaga de la Tortuga” in the Magdalena River Valley of the department of Caldas.  After 21 years of not having reliable records of Jaguars in the Caldas department, this work renews the hope for conserving this iconic species in the territory and is perhaps the last opportunity to take conservation actions to prevent the total local extinction of Jaguar in the department.  This work also represents the first confirmed records of C. versicolor for Caldas department and the second known records of P. onca and A. hybridus.  The records of A. hybridus are also considered the southernmost locality for the species.