What is the Jaguarthon?

Every 9-13 days, a jaguar is killed in Guyana as it comes into contact with cattle farmers, gold miners, or someone engaged in similar economic activity. Humans kill wild cats for many reasons, a common one being retaliation for a wild cat killing a domestic animal. Invariably, people bring longstanding fears, sometimes passed down from one generation to another or acquired from stories of conflict in other areas of the world, country, or within a locale, into their interactions with a wild cat. Consequently, when a wild cat kills or injures a cow or dog, people react by finding ways to kill or remove the offending cat from their area. In these situations, people hardly take a step back to think through alternatives to killing wild cats or to study the circumstances that may have led to conflict in the first place.

The Jaguarthon series of runs aims to change how people perceive wild cats and wildlife on the whole, while simultaneously acknowledging that the well-being of wildlife is intricately linked to that of humans.

The Jaguarthon, an official Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission (GWCMC) activity, aims to change how people think about human-wildlife interactions and transform the public's understanding of wildlife's role in Guyanese life. The series of Jaguarthon runs and post-run conversations and interactions emphasize the importance of wild cats, including jaguars, pumas, and other wildlife, to human well-being. Each run engages local people in Guyana, including high schoolers, local conservation leaders, and people interested in protecting human well-being. Beyond human-wildlife interactions, the runs also engage entities and agencies in Guyana involved in tackling challenges related to human health, including domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and safeguarding the welfare of women and children. The Jaguarthon runs make the point that wildlife health and well-being are dependent on that of humans across Guyana.

Why the Jaguarthon?

How It Works

In each run, participants will be accompanied by GWCMC personnel and Dr. Anthony Cummings, a Guyanese human-wildlife interactions researcher, who will engage participants on the importance of wild cats and wildlife while they run. The distance and time for each run will vary from five (5) to approximately thirteen (13) miles, and participants can sign up to run (or walk) any distance including one mile, or more along the run's course at each Run Location. The longest distance chosen (13 miles) represents the end of the range of frequency (measured in days) it is estimated that a jaguar is killed in Guyana. At the end of each run Cummings and others will engage the audience in activities aimed at enhancing our collective understanding of the importance of Guyana's wildlife. The theme for the 2024 runs is "If Jaguars Could Speak." Come run with us!