Environmental quality for jaguar, puma and ocelot in Guaratuba Bay, State of Paraná, using the programs Capture and Presence

Two month-long expeditions to Guaratuba Bay in the southern Atlantic Forest of Brazil were conducted in 2006. Parameters calculated from vestiges and camera-trap sampling were mammalian richness and proportion of area occupied (PAO) by jaguar, puma, and opportunistically, by ocelot. Eight quadrats 4km2 in size were sampled, over an area of 130km2, where fourteen species of mammals were recorded (CI(Nˆ )=14 to 14, CAPTURE). PAO was 25% for puma, and 100% for both jaguar and ocelot. It is argued that jaguar was expected to have capture probabilities similar to those of puma, as they both leave signs on open trails when present. The resulting PAO for jaguar is thus likely to be an artifact derived from low area substantiated by the reduced presence of important prey species in many of the sampling quadrats. The results do not diminish the importance of the study site for jaguar conservation; instead, these observations objectively identify the need to restore prey populations in the area.