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The jaguar (Panthera onca) is one of the most threatened carnivores in the Americas. Despite a long history of research on this charismatic species, to date there have been few systematic efforts to assess its population size and status in most countries across its distribution range. We present here the results of the two National Jaguar Surveys for Mexico, the first national censuses in any country within the species distribution. We estimated jaguar densities from field data collected at 13 localities in 2008–2010 (2010 hereafter) and 11 localities in 2016–2018 (2018 hereafter). We used the 2010 census results as the basis to develop a National Jaguar Conservation Strategy that identified critical issues for jaguar conservation in Mexico. We worked with the Mexican government to implement the conservation strategy and then evaluated its effectivity. To compare the 2010 and 2018 results, we estimated the amount of jaguar-suitable habitat in the entire country based on an ecological niche model for both periods. Suitable jaguar habitat covered ~267,063 km2 (13.9% of the country’s territory) in 2010 and ~ 288,890 km2 (~14.8% of the country’s territory) in 2018. Using the most conservative density values for each priority region, we estimated jaguar densities for both the high and low suitable habitats. The total jaguar population was estimated in ~4,000 individuals for 2010 census and ~4,800 for the 2018 census. The Yucatan Peninsula was the region with the largest population, around 2000 jaguars, in both censuses. Our promising results indicate that the actions we proposed in the National Jaguar Conservation Strategy, some of which have been implemented working together with the Federal Government, other NGO’s, and land owners, are improving jaguar conservation in Mexico. The continuation of surveys and monitoring programs of the jaguar populations in Mexico will provide accurate information to design and implement effective, science-based conservation measures to try to ensure that robust jaguar populations remain a permanent fixture of Mexico’s natural heritage.

RESUMENEl estado de Aguascalientes es uno de los más pequeños de la república, y ocupa el lugar 29 por su extensión territorial. Dada su superficie territorial, su diversidad de mamíferos es una de las menores entre los estados del país. Aguascalientes no cuenta con una lista actualizada. Aquí reportamos 86 especies de mamíferos. El orden con mayor número de especies es Rodentia, seguido por el Chiroptera; ambos incluyen el 71% de la mastofauna del estado. No hay especies endémicas al estado, pero dos especies de murciélagos, seis de roedores y un carnívoro son endémicas de México. Según la norma oficial mexicana (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010) de especies en riesgo de extinción, la musaraña (Notiosorex crawfordi), el tejon (Taxidea taxus) y tres murciélagos (Choeronycteris mexicana, Leptonycteris nivalis y L. yerbabuenae) se encuentran en la categoría de Amenazada (A) y Leopardus pardalis (ocelote) está en Peligro de extinción (P). Palabras clave: Mamíferos, Aguascalientes, Estado de conservación.ABSTRACTThe state of Aguascalientes is very small in size and has a relatively small mammalian fauna diversity. There is not an updated checklist of the mammal fauna of the state, so here we reported 86 species; the orders Rodentia and Chiroptera are the most diverse and together comprised 71% of the mammal species. There are no endemic species in Aguascalientes, but two bat species and six rodents are endemic to Mexico. According to the Mexican endangered species act (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010), the dessert shrew (Notiosorex crawfordi), the American badger (Taxidea taxus), and three species (Choeronycteris mexicana, Leptonycteris nivalis and L. yerbabuenae, are listed as threatened species, and the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) as endangered. Key words: Mammals, Aguascalientes, Conservation status.

Context Land use change, habitat loss and fragmentation are the major threats to jaguar conservation in Latin America. Here, we integrate the information of jaguar's distribution to identify priority areas for its conservation.Objective We evaluated the effect of topographic, anthropogenic and landscape variables on habitat suitability to evaluate potential core areas and biological corridors for jaguar conservation across Mexico.Methods We compiled a database of jaguar occurrence records, geospatial data-set of all Natural Protected Areas and using the expert criterion of the Mexican jaguar specialists to define Jaguar Geographic Regions; i.e. well-defined large units with similar ecological characteristics across the geographic range of jaguars in Mexico. We then conducted analyses of ecological niche models to identify Jaguar Conservation Units; i.e. core units with jaguar populations of 15 or more individuals. We used Least