The use of camera traps for estimating jaguar abundance and density using capture/recapture analysis

Silver and colleagues adapted the tiger camera-trap framework to jaguars, whose unique rosette patterns serve as individual marks. Working in Belize and across Latin American sites, they detailed practical protocols for station spacing, trail placement, and survey length suited to jaguar ecology, then estimated abundance with closed-population models and density via buffered effective sampling areas. The paper became the practical field manual that catalyzed jaguar camera-trap research throughout the Neotropics, standardizing methods so results could be compared across reserves. It explicitly addressed challenges such as sparse captures and identifying animals from rosette photographs. Widely cited and reproduced, this study effectively launched range-wide jaguar density monitoring and informed the design of conservation networks across Central and South America.