THE BEST PLACES TO SEE JAGUARS IN THE WILD

The Jaguar or Panthera Onca is the largest Cat in the Western Hemisphere and is one of the most elusive yet beautiful animals on the planet, tourists from all over the world flock to South and Central America hoping to get a glimpse of this big cat however the vast majority are lucky even to see tracks.

Close encounter with large male Jaguar in Kaa Iya National Park of Bolivia

It's common knowledge that the North Pantanal in Brazil is the best place to observe them, with thousands of cashed up photographers flocking to the Pantanal yearly and are paying upwards of two to ten thousand dollars per person to film and observe Jaguars, Even though the sightings are amazing these trips are not for everyone and the thought of sitting on a boat filled with other passengers with other tour boats surrounding the Jaguars competing for the best photographic positions are not for everyone. These tours are also in the high budget range and not affordable for everyone.

This brings to question where are the best Jaguar viewing destinations apart from the Northern Pantanal ,so through constant travel and research we have devised a list of proven Jaguar viewing hotspots which even rival the Jaguar viewing success of the Pantanal.

KAA IYA NATIONAL PARK

MADIDI NATIONAL PARK

SAN MIGUELITO JAGUAR RESERVE

Easily topping the list as the best alternative Jaguar viewing destination is the rarely visited Kaa iya National Park, located in the Santa Cruz department of Bolivia and consisting of the world’s most pristine Chaco forests, this amazing National Park truly is an excellent area for frequent Jaguar sightings, in the dry season of July –November its common to have multiple big cat and Tapir sightings per trip. The Park itself is larger than Belgium and is part of the 2^nd largest forested area in the world.

The area where Jaguars are seen the most is in a highly restricted part of the Park which is protected from the outside world, as well as having excellent Jaguar viewing opportunities Tapirs, Pumas, Ocelots and much more are seen frequently making it easily the best big mammal viewing destination in Bolivia. In 2006 WCS completed a camera trap study of the park which was aimed at Jaguar populations and they estimated over 1000 Jaguars to be living within the park. The Kaa Iya National Park was also chosen as the best destination to film Jaguars in Bolivia and it has featured in the new book National Parks of Bolivia by photographer Daniel Alarcon where he photographed a female Jaguar with its cubs daily for over a month.  Having travelled to the Park multiple times we have had sightings on nearly every trip to the park and one trip especially we saw 9 different Tapirs and 2 Jaguars in 4 days. The true beauty of visiting this amazing park is that you can have very close encounters within a vehicle without another tourist insight, we have even had Jaguars walk right past the car and sit in front of us for over 30 minutes.

October 2014, Jaguar sighting in Kaa Iya National Park.

Access to the park is challenging at best, and as it has restricted access, it can be visited with the help of responsible TOUR OPERATORS, they get access and permission to visit the best areas of the park and it’s a true wildlife adventure.

The 2^nd best place on our list of best places to see Jaguars is in the spectacular Madidi National Park, located in the Beni Department of Bolivia. Madidi National Park is one of the most beautiful and bio diverse locations found anywhere on the planet, unlike other Amazon areas like Iquitos in Peru and Manus in Brazil which are now booming cities.  The base town Rurrenrabaque is still small in population which means hunting , logging and settlements and entry into the park is minimal in comparison to other Amazonian Regions. To see Jaguars here you have to venture deep into the Amazon, there are numerous touristic lodges here however only the deepest ones have the most realistic chances of seeing Big Cats, there are certain parts of the rivers where Jaguars are still seen often,  as the peccary populations inside the park have boomed so have the populations of Jaguars. Other species of Wildlife which can be seen here include the vocal Giant Otters, Tapirs, White Lipped Peccaries, Giant Anteaters, Ocelots, Pumas and much more.

Access to the Madidi National Park is easy, you can fly from La Paz or Santa Cruz to the town of Rurrenrabaque and here there are a huge variety of tour operators who offer Jungle Tours, the key is locations and as the majority of lodges are close to the Town or are over- run by tourists then picking the right lodge to visit is key to having the best chances for Jaguar viewing. The best lodges where you have the best chances to see Jaguars include Berraco del Madidi lodge, Chalalan Lodge and Madidi Jungle.

June 2015, Madidi National Park Jaguar sighting.

Last on our list of areas to see Jaguars is to a private reserve called San Miguelito  Jaguar Reserve which is located 3 hours from the City of Santa Cruz Bolivia, this Cattle Farm/ Reserve is the only land in the region which still has its natural forest in- tact , all of the surrounding land has sadly been cut down and converted to Soya planation’s meaning all of the wildlife including Jaguars have moved into the forested areas of the property.

This Cattle ranch was studied by WCS in conjunction with Kaa Iya National Park and the results were outstanding, with 7 Jaguars and 6 Pumas being recorded in just a very small area, the density of Jaguars in this area were 11 Jaguars per 100 km which is one of the highest densities of Jaguars on the planet. As the area is a cattle farm Jaguars used to be killed on sight, in 2013 a Jaguar was killed in the area which weighed over 150 kgs making it possibly the largest ever killed,  The reserve is now being made into an Eco Tourism project where people can visit the ranch and try their luck at seeing Jaguars and the many other species of wildlife found here and money raised from visiting the Ranch goes towards replacing Cattle which have been killed by Jaguars which in turn means no Jaguars or Pumas will be shot.

Visits to this amazing reserve can be arranged by contacting Nick's Adventures Bolivia, who are supporting the project, through tourism they aim to reduce Jaguar killings throughout the country.    

Other notable mentions of where to see Jaguars in the Wild include:

MANU NATIONAL PARK IN PERU

REWA HEADS GUYANA

SOUTHERN BRAZILLAN PANTANAL

BENI DEPARTMENT BOLIVIA