Jaguars face significant welfare threats from retaliatory killing by ranchers, habitat fragmentation, and prey depletion across their range from Mexico through Central and South America.
Jaguars killed by ranchers typically die from gunshot or poisoning. Poisoned jaguars may die slowly over hours or days in agony from internal organ damage. Those shot but not immediately killed suffer from traumatic wounds. Cubs whose mothers are killed face starvation and predation without the protection and skill-teaching that mother jaguars provide for up to 2 years. Jaguars in fragmented habitat must cross roads and human-dominated landscapes, increasing their exposure to vehicle strikes, persecution, and starvation when prey is insufficient in isolated patches. The loss of individual jaguars from this persecution causes suffering that is as significant individually as it is ecologically.