Are There Jaguars in Belize? Status, Cockscomb and the Numbers
Verified on 14 November 2026 on the IUCN Red List’s jaguar assessment, the Belize Audubon Society’s Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary page, a 2020 study in PLoS One, The Belize Zoo’s Human Jaguar Conflict Program page and the Belize Forest Department’s wildlife page.
Yes. The IUCN Red List lists Belize among the countries where the jaguar (Panthera onca) is native and Extant (resident), and classes the species as Near Threatened under criteria A2cd, in a global assessment dated 05 August 2016 and published in 2017, with a decreasing population trend. The Belize Audubon Society says its Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary “is recognized internationally as the world’s first jaguar preserve”. No national count was found in the sources read on 14 November 2026. The only population figures in those sources are densities for one sanctuary: a camera-trap study in Cockscomb from March 2013 to March 2014 put mean estimates at 1.11 to 2.98 male jaguars per 100 km2 across its 90-day sessions (Harmsen and co-authors, PLoS One, 2020).
| Question | As printed | Who says it |
|---|---|---|
| Is the jaguar found in Belize? | Native, Extant (resident), Belize listed | IUCN Red List |
| Status | Near Threatened, criteria A2cd, ver 3.1 | IUCN Red List |
| Date assessed / year published | 05 August 2016 / 2017 (errata version published in 2018) | IUCN Red List |
| Scope of the assessment | Global | IUCN Red List |
| Population trend | Decreasing; population severely fragmented: Yes | IUCN Red List |
| Where it is extinct | El Salvador; Uruguay | IUCN Red List |
| Protected area set aside for jaguars | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, declared a wildlife sanctuary on February 26, 1986 | Belize Audubon Society |
| Male jaguar density, Cockscomb, March 2013 to March 2014 | 1.11 to 2.98 per 100 km2 (90-day sessions); 1.27 to 2.28 (180-day sessions) | Harmsen and co-authors, PLoS One, 2020 |
The status is the IUCN’s global one, not a Belize assessment. The density is for male jaguars in the camera-trapped part of one sanctuary in one year; it is not a figure for Belize, and we have not turned it into one.
The Cockscomb density study
The study is Spatially explicit capture recapture density estimates: Robustness, accuracy and precision in a long-term study of jaguars (Panthera onca), PLoS One, 2020 Jun 8; 15(6): e0227468, by Bart J Harmsen with co-authors who include Rebecca J Foster and Howard Quigley.
- Where: the authors describe Cockscomb as “490 km2 of moist seasonal broad-leaved tropical forest that was selectively logged until 1981, protected in 1986”.
- How: “20 paired camera stations along the trail system for one year (365 days) from March 2013 to March 2014, covering an area of ~120 km2”. They counted adult jaguars identified by their spot patterns, and estimated density for males.
- Results: across 276 90-day sessions, mean density estimates of males ranged from 1.11 to 2.98 individuals per 100 km2 (mean 2.01); across 186 180-day sessions, from 1.27 to 2.28 (mean 1.79).
- Their own caution: the abstract says the variation between sessions shows “the estimates obtained should be carefully interpreted and extrapolated”, and the authors explain the variation “in terms of temporal variation in social behaviour, specifically male competition and mating events during the three-month wet season”.
The paper also says that, compared with other tropical moist broad-leaved sites, “the CBWS supports a relatively high density of jaguars”.
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
The Belize Audubon Society (BAS) gives the sanctuary’s history:
| Date | Event, in BAS’s account |
|---|---|
| 1982 to 1984 | Dr. Alan Rabinowitz’s ecological study, which BAS says “observed that the Cockscomb Basin contained the highest density of jaguars ever recorded” |
| 1984 | The area declared a forest reserve with a No Hunting ordinance |
| February 26, 1986 | A small portion of the reserve declared a wildlife sanctuary |
| Since then | Expanded “from 3,600 acres to 128,000 acres”, joined by the Maya Mountain extension to Bladen Nature Reserve |
BAS says the area “was also designated to protect the upper watersheds of important river systems”, not only for jaguars. Its page lists the sanctuary’s hours as 8:00am-4:30pm and entrance for non-nationals at BZD 10 per day; our Hopkins page has the full fee table, access and lodging.
Jaguars outside the sanctuary
- Forest Department: its wildlife page says it “monitors predators such as the jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in conflict areas as part of human-wildlife conflict program”. It works under the Wildlife Protection Act (CAP 220), which it says defines wildlife as “all undomesticated mammals, birds, and reptiles, including body parts, eggs, and nests”.
- The Belize Zoo: in 2003 the zoo, “in collaboration with the Belize Forest Department (BFD), began a program to intervene on behalf of jaguars who were verified to be repeated livestock predators”. It says the programme “has rescued over 20 jaguars from conflict situations and certain death”, calls itself “the only authorized jaguar rescue facility in Belize”, and says it has helped trap and relocate three healthy young jaguars with the Forest Department and protected-area managers. It describes a conflict jaguar as one that has been repeatedly preying on livestock or domestic animals. Visiting the zoo is covered on our Belize Zoo page.
- On the reef: UNESCO’s case for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System names “the jaguars of Bacalar Chico” among the property’s top predators; see our Belize Barrier Reef page.
What these sources don’t publish
- A national population figure. No national count was found in the sources read on 14 November 2026: the IUCN page, the Forest Department’s wildlife page, the Belize Audubon Society’s Cockscomb page, the Zoo’s programme page and the Cockscomb study.
- A Belize-only Red List status. The IUCN assessment’s scope is Global.
- Any figure for jaguar encounters with people. None of the pages we read gives one, and this page makes no claim about danger.
How we researched this
On 14 November 2026 we read the IUCN Red List species page for Panthera onca (category, criteria, dates, trend and range), the Belize Audubon Society’s Cockscomb page (history, hours and fee), the study’s text on PubMed Central (site, method and results), The Belize Zoo’s Human Jaguar Conflict Program page, the Forest Department’s wildlife page and UNESCO’s description of the reef. Every figure is as its source prints it; we did not combine the study’s density with any area.
Sources
- IUCN Red List: Panthera onca (Jaguar): Near Threatened, A2cd, ver 3.1, assessed 05 August 2016, published 2017, errata 2018, global scope, decreasing, severely fragmented, Belize in the native range, extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.
- Belize Audubon Society: Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary: “the world’s first jaguar preserve”, the Rabinowitz study, the 1984 forest reserve, February 26, 1986, 3,600 to 128,000 acres, the watersheds, hours and the non-national fee.
- Harmsen and co-authors (2020), PLoS One, on PubMed Central: the study site, camera design and dates, the male density ranges, the authors’ caution.
- The Belize Zoo: Human Jaguar Conflict Program: the 2003 programme with the Forest Department, over 20 jaguars rescued, the only authorized jaguar rescue facility, three relocations, the conflict-jaguar description.
- Belize Forest Department: Wildlife: jaguar and puma monitoring in conflict areas, the Wildlife Protection Act (CAP 220) definition of wildlife.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System: the jaguars of Bacalar Chico under criterion (x).
Last verified: 2026-11-14
Researched and written by Estuardo Enriquez for belizetravelblog.com, an independent site with no connection to any airport, airline, tour operator or government body.