Small Felids (Mammalia: Carnivora) in El Salvador

Abstract

The species of small wild cats recorded in El Salvador are the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and the margay (Leopardus wiedii). The ocelot and the margay are considered Nationally Endangered and only the margay is considered Near Threatened (NT) globally. The country only has 37.5% of native vegetation cover and growing anthropic activities continue to reduce forest cover and fragment natural areas nationwide. Due to the lack of information on the three species of felids in the country, it is intended to know in which land uses and size of forest areas they are recorded, as well as to estimate how frequent the recording of these species is using camera traps. Information was collected from 1925 to 2023 from scientific articles, graduate theses, unpublished studies, Museum collection data, and iNaturalist. Information on geographic locations and sampling effort was obtained, which allowed detecting six land uses where the three species are recorded and estimating the size of the forest areas and the detection rate using camera traps. The species with most records is the jaguarundi and is present in all six land uses, the margay is the second with most records, but the vast majority are in forest, and the ocelot has very few records. Forest patches smaller than 1 km² could be used as transit areas to larger forested areas or forming a network of small areas that allow the populations of these felids to be maintained over time, especially in areas where land use is changing rapidly. It is a starting point to consider new studies that help improve the knowledge of small cats in the country. Reference detection rates for jaguarundi, ocelot and margay were obtained, which can be used to compare results in future studies or monitoring that help formulate long-term conservation measures for these species in the country.