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Where are they? Personal Space Jaguar Country Range Roving Park Estimates

Park Estimates

In order to estimate how many jaguars live in one protected area, habitat types and density estimates must be taken into account. Take a look at the map of Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park in south eastern Bolivia. This park, which sits on the border with Paraguay, is the largest protected area of tropical dry forest in the world.

The landscape in the park consists of four different habitat types. Each habitat type has a different jaguar density. Using the area of each habitat in the park and the jaguar densities, your job is to estimate the total jaguar population for the park. After you have done that, calculate the average jaguar density in the park. (Hint: You can't just average the densities. Why does that give you the wrong answer?)

Habitat % of park Area within park
(km2)		 Jaguar Density
(ind per km2)		 Jaguar Population
Riverine Forest 4% 1380 .0222
Chiquitano Transitional Forest 33% 11,500 .0217
Transitional Chaco Plain Forest 23% 7,935 .0222
Chaco Alluvial Plain Forest 40% 13,800 .0500
Total 100% 34,500  
 

Now that you know how to calculate jaguar density and how to take into account habitat when estimating population size in large areas, it's time to look at other important questions for conservation. What other questions do you need to answer?


  In which habitat type is jaguar density the highest? In which habitat type is it the lowest? What are your speculations on why?  


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