In the Green Corridor, ongoing conservation initiatives such as the Iguaçu Jaguar Project and long-term efforts to combat illegal hunting help maintain a prey base capable of sustaining viable jaguar populations. Credit: Iguaçu Jaguar Project In addition to habitat loss and illegal hunting, the jaguar (Panthera onca) faces another threat that increases its risk of extinction in the South American Atlantic Forest: food scarcity. A study by Brazilian researchers has found that the availability of jaguar prey is reduced, even in the protected areas of the biome, which covers approximately 15% of Brazil and extends across 17 states in the South, Southeast, and Northeast regions, as well as parts of Argentina and Paraguay. The paper is published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation . Jaguar prey species, including peccaries (Tayassu pecari), agoutis (Dicotyles tajacu), and deer, are hunted by humans and have dwindled to numbers that likely cannot support viable jaguar populations in the Atlantic Forest.…