Saving Endangered Jaguars in Mexico, One Photo at a Time | National Geographic

[Music] The Jaguar has several threats now in Mexico: habitat loss, the perception of Jaguar as a threat to livestock, and then illegal hunting. The question is, how do you protect the most elusive animal of the Yucatan Peninsula?

[Music] By photographing and filming these elusive cats, we have generated the basis for the acquisition of additional land and the protection of this crucial Jaguar Corridor. We named this place El [Music]. We acquired the land in 1993, and due to the inaccessibility, we're in a very pristine area.

Elan is unique in that it is immersed in a continuous system of wetlands and forests; therefore, it still has a large and good number of wildlife populations that is crucial for understanding Jaguars in the wild.

Yeah, we're going to open the case and check out the SD card and see what we have. The first time we saw this Jaguar, it was really something that changed the course of what Elan has been doing over the years. We have set up over 300 cameras. These cameras have generated over 2,500 photographs of Jaguars under prey.

Right now, we have probably 37 to 42 Jaguars documented in the region, and we have new ones coming also. So, we said this is something that's going to aid in conservation.

The Jaguar has been a very strong cultural icon in Mexico. For the Mayans, it was a symbol of strength and power. In Mexico, we know today we have about 4,500 Jaguars. By enabling the Jaguar as our conservation icon, we can bring attention strong enough to protect certain areas or change certain patterns of development.

Endangered species are a key element to protect. We have put them in danger; we need to reverse that. It's our responsibility; it's our challenge.

People are thrilled, but once you show them the actual animals in their environment and how many they are, that's when people change their views and go for conservation.

It's a big hos of a male, definitely an adult.