Searching for Jaguars

By Genevieve Valladao

Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. It is full of remarkable species that people travel from all over in hopes of seeing. In my month and a half in Costa Rica, I’ve already seen many amazing animals, including Howler Monkeys, Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, White-faced Capuchins, and Fer-de-lance snakes. However, there is one animal that I want to see more than all others, but this one is also among the most difficult animals to come across. The animal I most want to see is the Jaguar.

Although Jaguars are widely distributed across Costa Rica, this population is fairly small. Jaguars require large home ranges – males need about 5,000 hectares of land – so even when jaguars are present, the area inhabited by just one spans a massive area. Although the Jaguar is the largest feline in the Americas, they are very elusive, moving swiftly through the forest making little noise. Like other cats, Jaguars have excellent hearing and nocturnal vision. They are crepuscular and are most active at dawn and dusk.  

The range of the Jaguar in Costa Rica. Image courtesy of Project Panthera.

             I was thrilled when I found out about an overnight trip our program was taking to visit a conservation area called Las Alturas. The station we would stay at borders La Amistad International Park and is in a private reserve that is largely primary forest. Such pristine land coupled with the large amount of it, over 410,000 hectares, meant one thing to me – Jaguars might live there.

When we got to the station we learned that Jaguars definitely do live in the reserve. Camera traps installed in past years have observed a relatively large population of 16 different individuals. As soon as one of my friends on the program, Anna, and I found out that there were Jaguars in the forest around us, we knew that we had to do everything we could to increase our chances of seeing one. To this end, we planned to wake up early the next morning and to visit the forest in complete silence, as the sun was coming up.

At 5 am sharp, my alarm went off simultaneously with Anna’s. We locked eyes from our beds and nodded at each other. The seven other people sleeping in our room had forced our morning of silence to begin before we had even left the station. The sun was just starting to come up, turning the sky orange, as Anna and I met on the porch to put on our rubber boots. “Want to watch the sunrise first?” I offered her as we headed down the steps of the station, towards the forest. “Nope, we’re up to look for cats.” Anna and I were on the same page.

We started into the forest, walking in complete silence, an uncommon state for the two of us. The previous night we had discussed finding a spot well down the trail away from the station to sit, wait, and watch. I knew that was what we were looking for. After walking for about ten minutes, we started to hear running water. Right as I was about to tap Anna on the back to tell her that we should find a place near the river, she turned around, nodding her head towards a small path off the trail. I followed her about 100 meters down a slope, to a quiet pool of water made by a small stream. If there was anywhere we were going to see a jaguar, it was here.

We found a fallen tree near the stream, sat down on it, and started to take in what was around us. As soon as we had settled in and stopped making noise, birds started calling and colorful butterflies started gliding by us. As the minutes ticked on and the sun rose, the forest began to light up. It was amazing to watch the sun illuminate different layers of vegetation that had been covered in darkness when we first got to our spot.

After an hour and a half of quietly pointing different plants, insects, and birds out to each other, Anna broke our silence. “You know they definitely wouldn’t have let us come out here if they thought we actually would see a jaguar.” I laughed in agreement and nodded. Not only had we failed to encounter a jaguar, we hadn’t seen a single mammal. Anna and I stayed on our fallen tree for the next 20 minutes catching up with each other before started to hike back to the station to make it in time for breakfast - neither of us ever miss breakfast. Knowing that our opportunity to see a jaguar had passed, we talked and laughed the entire way back.

Although I am unlikely to see a jaguar during my time in Costa Rica, I’ll keep searching for one. Watching the forest function without the human disturbance that I usually bring and time spent with my friend made my morning excursion well worth the early wake up and the short hike.