In Brazil, the headlamps of two biologists
and a veterinarian spotlight a tranquilized jaguar.
His teeth say that he's about four years old.
For jaguars, this age is peak mating time.
But like many of his peers, the young one is struggling to find a partner.
The jaguar home is shrinking every day, and the habitat that is still available
is too fragmented for them to find suitable partners for reproduction.
Time is running out for their species.
Luckily, a group of conservationists has made a bold plan.
They want to reconnect the world's jaguar populations through a safe corridor.
But how exactly does a jaguar corridor work?
And will it help the species to thrive again?
The jaguar is the third largest cat in the world - after tigers and lions
and the largest big cat in Latin America.
Its range encompasses 18 countries
from Mexico to Argentina.
Historically, across all these countries,
poachers were on the prowl for the felines.
They mainly hunted jaguars for their skin or teeth.
Nowadays, the wild cat is facing another big threat habitat loss.
More than 50% of its historical range has already gone
and only 4% of critical habitat is protected.
Sadly, the jaguar is already extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.
In all the remaining countries,
the species is facing pressure in the range that is left to it.
Logging, mining and intensive agriculture have divided up this remaining land
and made it almost impossible
for individuals to meet jaguars from other clans for reproduction.
This separation leads to a lack of genetic diversity and forces
the big cats to risk inbreeding.
The distance between their habitat spots isn't the problem.
Because from a physiological point of view, jaguars are made to travel
hundreds of kilometers to breed.
They do have a robust body and thick, stocky legs.
And while many cats avoid water, jaguars or great swimmers.
They have even been seen swimming across the Panama Canal.
The real threat to them is the territory they have to cross to reach protected areas.
A detail that humans often have overlooked in the past:
In the tradition of conservation, back in the seventies and eighties,
efforts were focused only on particular landscapes, not the entire jaguar range.
Jaguar populations lived separated from each other,
and the genetic diversity was drastically reduced.
In 2010, a team around
Alan Rabinowitz and Kathy Zeller tried to tackle this problem.
They started calculating so-called "least-cost-paths" for jaguars.
These paths allow the wild cats to expand their range
to meet other jaguar populations and to transfer their genetic material.
The idea of the jaguar corridor was born!
But there was still one problem left:
Many of the corridor sections still led through human dominated landscapes,
and when jaguars have to cross roads, croplands or pastures to move
within their range their lives are often in danger.
To improve the situation, Allen and his team created a plan
on how the felines could be protected across these human landscapes.
Today, the "Panthera Jaguar Corridor Initiative"
is the only conservation program that seeks to protect jaguars
across their entire 6 million square kilometer range.
This is a big chance for the big cat
and hopefully will help the species to gain more genetic diversity.
But how exactly does the program work?
Country by country,
the team begins by mapping jaguars presence
and the corridors through which they live and move.
Using this data Panthera partners with local communities and governments
to support land developments that are ecologically sustainable
and are allowing safe passages for jaguars and other wildlife.
Field teams train farmers in anti-poaching techniques
and help them build predator proof enclosures with electric fences.
The team installs camera traps near to roads
and around farms
They collar jaguars - like this young male.
And if everything goes well, the newly fitted satellite transmitter
will send GPS locations for the next few years.
Allowing the team to track and understand his movements.
They also educate local communities about the importance of the species.
As the top apex predator the jaguar keeps populations of small mammals,
that can feed on crops, under control.
And if jaguars prey on cattle, farmers receive financial compensation for their loss.
All these on the ground efforts are paying off.
Fewer jaguars have been killed since the project started.
In Mexico, surveys to count jaguars revealed a 20% increase in the population from 2010 to 2018.
Panthera is currently leading or supporting efforts in 11 of the 18 jaguar range states,
and is continuously improving its conservation efforts.
Recently they introduced the "Jaguar 2030 Road Map".
Together with the big players WWF, WCS and UNDP.
One of their ambitious goals is to secure 30 priority jaguar landscapes by 2030.
All these projects will help to spread the word that jaguars are an umbrella species
and a critical component of a healthy functioning ecosystem.
And at the end, the conservation work
will hopefully help young jaguars to find the mates they need for the future.