Mexico's jaguar population is up 30% since 2010, but still at risk

28/8/2025 6:23

Mexico's jaguar population has increased significantly in recent years but the largest feline in the Americas is still in danger of extinction, said a Mexican advocacy group that released a national census of the animals on Wednesday.



The 2024 population stood at 5,326 jaguars, 30% more than in 2010, when Mexico labeled them an endangered species, according to the National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation (ANCJ).



Since the last census in 2018, the population has grown 11%, a "surprising and encouraging" result, the group said in a report.



Humberto Pena, a state strategy coordinator at the ANCJ, said larger protected areas have helped jaguars move around more freely, spurring population growth.



However, jaguar populations will still require 15 to 30 years of steady growth to be out of danger of extinction, he said. The report said it would take more than three decades to bring the population to 8,000.