• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Jaguar anyone? (1 Viewer)

West End Birder

Well-known member
Hi All

Thinking of another jaunt to South America in 2026 not particularly for birdwatching / wildlife but always like to see stuff and would particularly like to see a Jaguar, I realise this is a bit of a "dream on" moment but you never know.....

Looking at a recent paper it seems Jaguar are present around the Iguazu Falls but maybe only one individual, so not highly likely to be seen?

We will visit the Iguazu Falls and also want to go to Chile but wondered if there is anywhere in Argentina that is accessible with a good chance? I think the Pantanal in Brazil is a good place but wanted to avoid too many stops.

Any advice would be welcome, thanks in advance.

Rob
 
Pantanal is by far the most reliable place for Jaguars, because of the tourist machinery in Porto Joffre - I think they feed them and generally work on having them around; they will take you for a boat trip and spread info around if some jaguar is found.

Seeing them in Argentina is gonna be difficult. They live in some places, including Salta/Jujuy, but they are super reclusive. I have still not seen one.
 
When I visited the pantanal I was lucky in having to delay my arrival for a month. The month prior the fires were so bad one could not see across the street in Sao Paulo. The situation has gotten far worse with the burning to create more land for cattle and to raise more grain for cows and pigs and chickens.

I would give serious consideration to going on one of the charter river cruise boats. Some have kayaks or pangas to take their guests into smaller tributaries.

I went during the dry season as the roads are passable going out from Cuiba but this is also when there are no migratory birds in the area.
 
If you don't want to stand in line to see 10 jaguars a day from a boat, you can contact Nicholas McPhee, who can offer a tour in Jaguarland, a big private farm some hours driving from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with a pretty good chance seeing Jaguar but also some other mammals.
He's on facebook and instagram.
Here is a report (purposedly I took one from people who are a bit more casual in their mammal watching, no die-hards), it also holds Nicks email etc. and gives a good impression of what is there to be had.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top