Spatial Ecology and Habitat Selection by Jaguars and Pumas in a Protected Area in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Understanding animal distribution is crucial for elucidating natural history, population dynamics, and inter‐ and intraspecific interactions. This knowledge informs the planning and evaluation of management and conservation strategies, particularly for sympatric, scarce, and threatened species such as jaguars ( Panthera onca ) and pumas ( Puma concolor ). While significant advances have occurred in understanding jaguar and puma ecology within tropical ecosystems in recent years, information regarding their spatial ecology remains limited across much of their distribution, notably within the Atlantic Forest. The Rio Doce State Park (RDSP) represents one of the largest remaining contiguous patches of the Atlantic Forest where jaguars and pumas still occur sympatrically. This study focused on describing and comparing the spatial ecology of jaguars and pumas within the RDSP. We employed GPS‐collars to estimate home ranges, quantify overlap among monitored individuals, and evaluate habitat use and selection. We monitored two jaguars (one male, one female) and five pumas (two males, three females). The median estimated home range size (95% Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimator—AKDE) was 195 km 2 for jaguars and 216.26 km 2 for pumas. These estimates exhibited both smaller and larger values compared to previous reports, partially supporting the hypothesis of smaller home ranges potentially related to the smaller body size of felids in the Atlantic Forest. We found a high degree of intra‐ and interspecific home range overlap, supporting the hypothesis that individuals utilize shared space within this relatively small, isolated forest fragment. All monitored individuals exhibited habitat selection, with both species consistently preferring native forest and avoiding human‐modified habitats (urban, agriculture, pasture) in both diurnal and nocturnal periods. Our results underscore the importance of maintaining extensive natural areas within the Atlantic Forest to ensure the long‐term population viability (both genetically and demographically) of jaguars and pumas.