In the World's Best Place to See Wild Jaguars, Residents ...

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: Brazil’s Pantanal region has the highest jaguar density on Earth, drawing camera-toting visitors to its riverbanks.

Despite overtourism concerns, one enclave may offer a model for how to protect the charismatic apex predator In the Worlds Best Place to See Wild Jaguars, Residents Are Using the Big Cats Appeal to Reach Conservation Goals Brazil’s Pantanal region has the highest jaguar density on Earth, drawing camera-toting visitors to its riverbanks. Jaguars in Porto Jofre, Brazil, support a lucrative tourism industry, leading conservationists to argue that the big cats are most valuable when they re alive. (plot twist fr)

Bruno Damiani Jaju is on the prowl.

The Details

Her agile shoulders glide above the river until she suddenly pounces for a kill, whipping her spotted body around in a windmill of droplets. But when she emerges again, her jaws are empty.

“The caiman saw her first,” says my guide, Adjalma “DJ” Oliveira . To be honest, I’m not too disappointed.

Why This Matters

Jaju was already the third jaguar I’d seen that October morning and one of 11 I saw during a weeklong tour of the Pantanal , the world’s largest tropical wetland , which stretches roughly 81,000 square miles across parts of Bolivia, Paraguay and the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. Most of those jaguars were stalking the São Lourenço River in southwestern Brazil’s Porto Jofre, looking to capture capybaras or caimans along its shores. Typically, jaguars are elusive.

Scientists and researchers are watching this development closely.

Key Takeaways

• In much of their range—from Arizona down to Brazil—they have been hunted to near extinction or their habitat has been destroyed by humans.
• Across much of the Pantanal and beyond, cattle ranchers kill jaguars —often as retaliation if they believe a cat killed one of their cows.

The Bottom Line

“They’re huge, they’re jumping from trees, they’re healthy,” says Paul Raad , founder of the Impacto Institute , a Brazilian nonprofit that focuses on jaguar conservation through coexistence with cattle ranchers. Across much of the Pantanal and beyond, cattle ranchers kill jaguars —often as retaliation if they believe a cat killed one of their cows.

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