Jaguar makes history in Argentina

Miní, a female jaguar, has become the first-ever wild-born jaguar to be relocated directly from one wild habitat to another, now settling into Argentina’s El Impenetrable National Park. She joins two other female jaguars, formerly held in captivity, who were released earlier to support the struggling jaguar population in the Gran Chaco region, where only a few wild males remain.

Why jaguars matter 

“As a top predator, the jaguar plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem so that it’s functional,” Sebastián Di Martino, Conservation Director of Rewilding Argentina, explained, adding that jaguars also have cultural importance in the Chaco region and help build local economies through wildlife tourism. “It can also bring economic benefits – as El Impenetrable National Park develops as a nature-based tourism destination, wildlife-watching draws visitors from all over the world, creating opportunities for local communities,” he said. “But it’s more elemental than that: returning the top predator is also about coexistence and respecting the right of all species to exist.”

The struggle in the Gran Chaco

The Gran Chaco spans roughly 1.4 million square kilometers across Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. It’s a mix of forests, scrubland and grasslands. Jaguars in Argentina face a critical situation, having lost more than 95% of their original habitat. Fewer than 200 jaguars remain in the wild, mostly isolated or in fragmented groups. Attempts to bolster the population began in 2018 when a ranger found a solitary male jaguar in El Impenetrable National Park. This male was monitored and bred with captive females from Iberá Park, producing cubs destined for release. Yet with only males in the wild, the population was at risk of disappearing without female counterparts — until Miní’s arrival.

Miní’s journey

Miní traveled about 600 kilometers in October 2024, from the San Alonso Jaguar Reintroduction Center to El Impenetrable. Her trip included a plane ride and a truck journey of 130 kilometers before she was placed in a quarantine pen for several months to adjust. Recently, the pen was opened and Miní was released. Equipped with a radio collar, her movements are now being closely monitored. While translocations can be risky, the team expects Miní to adapt well. “Jaguars are generalists,” Di Martino explained. “They live in diverse ecosystems … and prey on a wide range of species. That’s why we keep them in a pre-release pen — in this case an area of four acres — for several months, where they’re monitored closely, before their release into the wild.”

What’s next 

Miní is just the beginning of a rewilding effort planned for the area. “We’ve already released around 75 red-footed tortoises, and we’re working to reintroduce marsh deer, guanaco and giant otters,” Di Martino said. “In the future, we’re also planning to reintroduce pampas deer. The ecological restoration of El Impenetrable will eventually enable it to become a source of species to repopulate other parts of the Gran Chaco dry forest, which can find connectivity through the river systems, from Argentina to Paraguay and Bolivia.”

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