Transpantaneira Jaguar Project

About

In 2022, the Jaguar Identification Project started a new jaguar monitoring project based in Pousada Piuval which is a 130 year old ranch that offers a unique opportunity to observe the spectacular wildlife of the Northern Pantanal region. The ranch is located only 10km from the city of Poconé and tucked in between many cattle ranches who are not economically associated with wildlife ecotourism.

Mission

Our mission is to set up a long term jaguar monitoring project using camera traps grids, citizen science and field observations to better understand jaguar movements and population patterns in a heavily anthropogenic influenced region.

Vision

Ranchers in the Pantanal are constantly battling between their livelihood and living among large predators. We hope to build a program where neighboring ranches pledge to be jaguar friendly and stop killing jaguars. We will develop a conservation tax that will be uses to help offset the losses for those who aren't working directly with wildlife ecotourism. This region of the northern pantanal brings in 6.8 million USD annually with jaguar based ecotourism alone, but the money only stays with the lodges, tour operators, and guides, while nothing goes to the neighboring ranchers who have their livelihood to be concerned with. We hope to break this barrier and be a stepping stone that will not only benefit jaguar conservation but also the local community.

Jaguar Monitoring

With the traditional methods of the Jaguar Identification Project using citizen science and direct field observations we have built a jaguar field guide for the jaguars of the Piuval region, which includes jaguars seen near Araras lodge and Aymara Lodge. Since 2017, we have identified 12 different individuals. This guide was created to help identify individual jaguars seen in the surrounding area and enhance the jaguar viewing experiences for wildlife tourists.

Scan this QR code to download the PDF version of the Jaguar of Piuval

Camera Trapping

In order to properly understand the population of large predators in the region we will need to have a camera trap grid that encompasses 200 km2, that is 20,000 hectors or 49,000 acres. We will need at least 100 camera traps to set up that grid. We are in desperate need of this equipment to better establish this project. If you donate a camera today, you will not only become part of this project, but we will send you monthly updates of wildlife photos your camera has help us capture.

Environmental Education

We will not only monitor the jaguar population in this region closely but we will also provide scientific education, give lectures on the iconic species, teach people how to properly identify individual jaguars, and we will host workshops to teach the local ranchers how to properly identify if a cow was killed by a jaguar or other predators.

Remember all donations to the Jaguar Identification Project are tax deductible just request a tax-deductible receipt!