Mexican Jaguar Population Increases 30 Percent But Still Endangered

January illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Charles J. Sharp)

JAKARTA - The population of January has seen a significant increase in recent years, but the largest cat in the Americas is still threatened with extinction according to the Mexican advocacy group that released the animal's national census on Wednesday.

The population of January in 2024 reached 5,326, 30 percent more than in 2010, when Mexico designated the animal as an endangered species, according to the National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation (ANCJ).

Since the last census in 2018, its population has grown by 11 percent, a result that is "surprisingly and encouraging," the group said in its report.

Humberto Pena, the state strategy coordinator in ANCJ, said the wider protected area had helped the January move more freely, thus encouraging population growth.

However, the January population still needs stable growth for 15 to 30 years to get out of the danger of extinction, he said.

The report said it would take more than three decades to reach a population of 8,000.

habitat destruction, illegal hunting, animal trafficking, and conflicts between breeders have contributed to the decline in the population of the onca Panther species, which were found from the southern tip of the United States to northern Argentina.

Mexico's census recorded the highest number of Januarys - 1,699 - in the Yucatan Peninsula region, followed by the South Pacific with 1,541 East and Middle Mexico with 813 tails, the North Pacific with 733 tails, and the Central Pacific Coast with 540 tails.

ANCJ surveyed the population through photos and videos of 920 motion sensor cameras posted in 15 states over 90 days.

The association urges incentives to preserve more January corridors, as well as urge governments and social media platforms to take firm action against the sale of parts of the body of the sea.

"His skin, skull, claw, andrils are traded illegally," the association noted.

"We want to make everyone aware, January protection is a shared responsibility," said Pena.