It was said that it couldn\u2019t be done: the terrain was too dangerous; the floods would wipe out the cameras; the system was too unpredictable. But the truth is, no-one had really tried Andi Cross tells Melissa Hobson.<\/p>\n
We were headed to Porto Jofre, known for its wild\u00a0jaguars, to help the\u00a0Jaguar Identification Project\u00a0(JIP) complete a 41-site camera trap grid \u2013 one of the largest ever installed in South America\u2019s\u00a0Pantanal\u00a0\u2013 to measure jaguar density inside the park using non-invasive methods.<\/p>\n
JIP \u2013 a non-profit that studies how these cats are responding to a rapidly shifting ecosystem \u2013 has documented over 478 individual jaguars, building the world\u2019s largest wild jaguar database.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Edges of Earth\u00a0team was joining JIP\u2019s founder\u00a0Abbie Martin,\u00a0Brazilian biologist Jo\u00e3o Rodrigues, and Cigano Silas \u2013 a local Pantaneiro born and raised in this unforgiving terrain.<\/p>\n
Current estimates put the local jaguar population at over 1,600 individuals but no-one has directly measured the park\u2019s jaguar population. Soon, thanks to this new grid, the team will finally have a number rooted in concrete, long-term fieldwork.<\/p>\n
Every day for a week, we made our way up and down the rivers searching for the cats, waiting for the loud bark of a\u00a0capybara, signalling danger to the others. Out here, everything respects the jaguar.<\/p>\n
Jaguars\u00a0will take down just about anything. Think guinea pigs, iguanas, birds, even\u00a0giant river otters\u00a0(a new behaviour in the region).<\/p>\n
Each cat has its own hunting method. Some walk the banks. Others lurk in trees, diving down from five to eight metres above.<\/p>\n
We saw two jaguars pushing those limits. A jaguar named Ousado was spotted diving under the water, stealth-hunting caiman from below \u2013 a technique never seen before.<\/p>\n
Then another called Medrosa launched herself from the treetops to dive down to catch prey. These cats are unlocking new levels of predation and adapting in real-time to a dynamic ecosystem.<\/p>\n
As a highly flexible\u00a0apex predator, the jaguar has learned to exploit aquatic environments in ways few other big cats do.<\/p>\n