Estimating jaguar densities with camera traps: Problems with current designs and recommendations for future studies

► We carried out a large simulation study to compare the performance of five density estimation methods. ► Methods include classic closed-population capture-recapture models and spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) models. ► Camera grids need to be at least the size of a home range to produce unbiased results in most cases. ► Differences in capture rates or home range size between sexes need to be modeled in order to get unbiased results. ► Most of 74 reviewed jaguar camera trap studies do not fulfill minimum requirements for unbiased density estimation.