Jaguars of the Bolivian Lowland Savannas

[Balam]

Bolivian Lowland Floodplain and Grasslands

The Llanos Region, also called the Bolivian Lowlands, is the general denomination of the Bolivian lowlands, encompassing the north, northeast and east of Bolivia. This region covers 64% of Bolivian territory, making it the largest region in the country with a surface area of 703,040 km². It is located to the north and northeast of the Eastern or Real mountain range, belonging to the Andes, and extends from the department of Pando through the north of the department of La Paz, the department of Beni, the department of Santa Cruz and through the Chaco in the departments of Tarija and Chuquisaca. That is, it covers the entire area from the foothills of the Andes to the Paraguay River, the lowest point in the country, with an average altitude of less than 400 m above sea level.


It is characterized for being a land of plains, covered by extensive jungles of Amazonian type and large lakes. In this region are the rivers of the Amazon basin and the Rio de la Plata from the country and neighboring countries such as the Mamoré River, the Beni River and lakes Rogagua and Rogaguado. It has an average annual temperature of 22 to 25 °C, reaching up to 40 °C. Most of the country's biodiversity is found here, as well as the most profitable arable land.

Within the region there are several geographical sub-regions, such as the Bolivian Amazon, the Moxos Plains, the Chiquitos Plains, the Bolivian Pantanal and the Bolivian Chaco.

Wikipedia

This thread will focus on the populations of Llanos de Moxos, Llanos de Chiquitos excluding Chaco, Pantanal and Amazonian forest areas which are covered in other threads.
The populations of jaguars in the Bolivian lowland grasslands and wetlands east of the Andes and south of the Amazon have been largely ignored by the scientific community so information on their morphology and specific ecology are greatly lacking compared to other populations. Footage of these jaguars is also very rare to come by due to the isolation degree of these eco-regions. Thankfully, tourism in the areas has spiked over the last year providing us with excellent images of these enigmatic but stunning jaguars.

Because these areas are very similar in geography and fauna to the Pantanal and the Orinoco Llanos, it is expected that the jaguars here will be non-dwarfed/large-bodied and thus similar in size to those from the Pantanal/Llanos as they all fall under the floodplain jaguar tier, as do those from the Upper Paraná wetlands and the Wet Chaco which includes the Iberá wetlands.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Wetlands in light green. The Beni Savanna, also known as Llanos de Moxos, covers the majority of the floodplain territory in Bolivia and is one of the largest flooded savannas on the continent.

Compilation of jaguars in Santa Cruz

*This image is copyright of its original author

Credits: Andres Novales, Pietro Rojas, and mr.reptile.sv. Reply