1. The study of free‐living felids requires the capture of individuals from the wild to collect biological samples and to equip them with GPS‐satellite collars for telemetry monitoring. The traditional methods used by researchers to capture wild felids are box traps and trained hounds, both of which have disadvantages.
2. We present the description of the foot snare and the adaptations required for the capture of jaguars and cougars, showing its efficiency.
3. The foot snare consists of a combination of structures. It is composed of a thrower system, which is responsible for closing the steel cable noose on the paw of the animal; a holding system, which is responsible for securing the animal safely, after stepping into the trap; and a monitoring system, consisting of a VHF transmitter that allows remote monitoring of the snares. The snares are set on trails and roads according to the presence of tracks, scats and other evidence indicating use by the two species of large felids or as determined by monitoring camera traps.
4. Thirty jaguars (16 females and 14 males) and six cougars (all males) were captured. Three jaguars in the Pantanal were captured more than once, therefore totalling 34 capture events. Snares have been demonstrated to be a safe and efficient method to capture these felids.

中文翻译：

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使用脚圈套器捕获大猫科动物

1. 对自由生活的猫科动物的研究要求从野外捕获个体以收集生物样本，并为他们配备GPS卫星项圈以进行遥测监控。研究人员用来捕获野生猫科动物的传统方法是箱形陷阱和训练有素的猎犬，两者都有缺点。
2. 我们介绍了脚圈套器的描述以及捕获美洲虎和美洲狮所需的适应措施，以显示其效率。
3. 脚圈套圈由结构的组合组成。它由一个投掷器系统组成，该系统负责关闭动物爪子上的钢索套。进入陷阱后负责安全固定动物的保持系统；监视系统由甚高频发射器组成，可以远程监视军鼓。根据小径，粪便和其他证据表明这两种大猫科动物使用了圈套器，或者通过监视摄像机的陷阱确定了圈套器，它们被设置在小路和道路上。
4. 捕获了三十只美洲虎（16头雌性和14头雄性）和6头美洲狮（均为雄性）。潘塔纳尔地区的三只美洲虎被抓获不止一次，因此总共发生了34次抓获事件。圈套器已被证明是捕获这些猫科动物的安全有效方法。