NEWSLINK: South American jaguar are losing critical habitat due to agricultural deforestation

New research finds that one-third of critical jaguar habitat in the Gran Chaco, South America's largest tropical dry forest, has been lost since the mid-1980s.

According to the study, led by researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) and published in the journal Biodiversity Research this week, deforestation driven by agricultural expansion—mainly for soy and cattle production—has caused the steep decline of jaguar habitat in the region.

Meanwhile, the conversion of jaguar habitat into cropland and pastureland gives hunters easier access to the forest. 

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