Echoes of Jaguar

© Y.J. Rey-Millet / WWF

 
For how much longer?  Where the canopy hums, in the unseen life, where in the sunlight shadows show and move lightly. These golden eyes catch the river’s reflection. But for how much longer?
 
Common name: Jaguar
 Scientific name: Panthera onca
 Conservation status: Near threatened (Quigley, et al., 2018)
 Range: Central and South America
 Habitat: Wet and dry forest, Savannahs, shrublands

​In the Amazon of Guyana’s rainforest, the jaguar has long been more than just what we sometimes see as a big cat. This golden species represents strength courage and the delicate balance of nature to the natives. As Guyana’s national animal, the jaguar is woven into our folklore and identity as a people of this country. It is represented in our Coat-of-Arms and the $5000 bill. Its likeness has also been molded into a monument at Eccles Roundabout on Heroes Highway. Even the National Football Team has been named after the predator.
 
Beyond Guyana, the jaguar is a symbol of power in many Latin American cultures, generally seen as the protector of the rainforest. The name ‘jaguar’ is derived from ‘yaguareté’ which, when translated from the South American languages Tupi and Guarani, means “true, fierce beast” and “he who kills in one leap (Bastamante, 2025). This animal is the largest cat in Americas, and can only be rivalled globally by the tiger and lion in size.  Its muscular and solitary features enable it to swim and climb, setting them aside from its cousins. It’s a top predator, controlling populations of herbivores and maintaining ecological balance (Bastamante, 2025; Cummings, LaCruz, & Stoeckel, 2019).
 
 
Why are they disappearing?
According to the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission (GWGMC), jaguars are mostly killed out of fear or in retaliation for killing a domestic animal. “Every 9-13 days a jaguar is killed as it comes into contact with cattle farmers, gold miners or someone engages in similar economic activity” (Guyana Wildlife conservation and Management Commission, 2023). The evidence suggests that jaguars are killed by farmers who do so with the intention of protecting their livestock and themselves.  
 
On the other hand, the reality of hunters still persists. The rare animal is hunted for sport or profit.  Notably, a cycle of killing has been highlighted by Alona Sankar, Commissioner at the GWCMC, who explains that jaguars who may have been injured by hunters are too weak to hunt their own prey. This forces them to turn to domesticated animals leading to farmers killing them to protect their economic interest (Cummings, LaCruz, & Stoeckel, 2019).
 
Interestingly, climate change has impacted the balance of ecosystems, to the extent that the prey of the jaguar had been displaced by events like El Nino. This dispersion has the same crippling effect as a hunting injury, as it forces the jaguar to seek domesticated prey (Cummings, LaCruz, & Stoeckel, 2019).
 
Furthermore, while the country's economy depends on logging, gold mining, agriculture and other industries that brings jobs and development, these come with great cost. These lead to not only forest displacement but the fragmentation of ecosystems, which makes it harder for the species to hunt and breed (Cummings, LaCruz, & Stoeckel, 2019).
 
 
Efforts to preserve the Jaguar
Considering the near-threatened status of the predator, many national and international efforts have been made to preserve the population. Most notably, Guyana has made legislative protections under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2016 which prohibits unauthorized breeding, marking, exportation, inter alia (Parliament of Guyana, 2016).
 
Moreover, The Government of Guyana, through the Iwokrama Research Centre, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Panthera Corporation, aimed at conserving the Jaguar. The Panthera Corporation is an organization founded in 2006 who, led by a team of biologists, law enforcements and wild cat advocates, develop innovative strategies to preserve jaguars and its feline cousins. This MOU engages the Environmental Protection Agency Wildlife Division, The Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Guyana Protected Areas Commission (Stabreok News, 2016).
 
Additionally, Guyana has signed the Jaguar 2030 Conservation Roadmap for the Americas in 2018, which was presented on the side of the Conference of the Parties (COP) 14 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The roadmap is designed to strengthen the Jaguar Corridor from Mexico to Argentina with thirty (30) priority Jaguar Landscapes by the year 2030 (Department of Public Information, 2018; El-Sheikh, 2018).
 
Closing remarks
It must be reiterated that the jaguar is a symbol of strength and courage in Guyana and the wider Americas. Therefore, to ignore their decimation and vulnerability, is to neglect a pertinent part of our culture. The piece of us that shapes our stories, symbols, and our spirit would fall silent.
 
So next time you hear rain against the leaves or see the golden animal shimmering in art remember: the jaguar still walks among us and of course only if we let it. 

Bastamante, L. (2025). Jaguars. Retrieved from World Wildlife Fund: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/jaguar/

Cummings, A., LaCruz, N., & Stoeckel, A. (2019, July). Guyana Human-Wildcat Conflict Toolkit: "Think Like a Jaguar". Retrieved from Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission: https://wildlife.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Human-Wildcat-Conflict-Toolkit.pdf

Department of Public Information. (2018, November 27). Guyana signs on to new roadmap to save the jaguar. Retrieved from Department of Public Information, Guyana: https://dpi.gov.gy/guyana-signs-on-to-new-roadmap-to-save-the-jaguar/

El-Sheikh, S. (2018, November 20). Latin America Launches New Roadmap to Save the Jaguar. Retrieved from United Nations Development Programme: https://www.undp.org/press-releases/latin-america-launches-new-roadmap-save-jaguar

Guyana Wildlife conservation and Management Commission. (2023, November 29). International Jaguar Day. Retrieved from Guyana Wildlife conservation adn Management Commission: https://wildlife.gov.gy/international-jaguar-day-2/

Parliament of Guyana. (2016, October 5). Wildlife Conservaiton and MAnagement Act 2016 (Act No. 22 of 2016). Retrieved from Ministry of Parliamentary Affiars and Governance: https://parliament.gov.gy/publications/acts-of-parliament/wildlife-conservation-and-management-act-2016

Quigley, H., Foster, R., Petracca, L., Payan, E., Salom, R., & Harmsen, B. (2018). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. Retrieved from International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T15953A50658693.en

Stabreok News. (2016, June 1). Iwokrama, Panthera sign pact for jaguar conservation. Retrieved from Stabreok News: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/06/01/news/guyana/iwokrama-panthera-sign-pact-jaguar-conservation/