Fera, a 3½-yr-old female jaguar (one of twins rescued as orphans and re-wilded by the Onçafari Project at the Caiman Ecological Refuge in Brazil’s Pantanal) bursts onto a grassy bank after swimming across a lagoon whilst stalking a group of capybara (a giant South American relative of the guinea pig).

Shadowy, shy and mysterious, scientists consider the South American jaguar the ‘Ninja’ of the world’s 3 largest big cats species. Its secretive nature has enabled it to survive despite almost 300 years of persecution and conflict with cattle and livestock farmers. 

During the last 50 years, as destruction and fragmentation has reduced its natural habitat by more than 50%, jaguar numbers have shrunk over its former historic range, that once extended from the southern United States to Argentina.

Because of its elusive nature no-one currently has reliable population data. Expert estimates vary from as many as 30,000 to less than 16,000.

Nusa (left), a formidable female jaguar rests beside a lagoon with her 10-month-old cub, Juju, in the cool of an overhanging bank.

A territorial dispute between two female jaguars, the formidable Nusa (standing) and Isa. Nusa has a 10-month old cub to feed and Isa has tried to steal her kill. Nusa gives a masterclass in total dominance, dancing around Isa without landing a single blow but lets her know in no uncertain terms what might happen if Isa dares make the same mistake again. At times she broke off from the conflict to grab and rip down branches from overhead, possibly to demonstrate her superior strength or a sign of her anger and frustration.

In a ‘world first’ Project Onçafari has applied wildlife ‘habituation’ techniques, first pioneered to great effect with big cats in Africa, so that Caiman's jaguars are no longer disturbed or afraid of tourist vehicles.

A delighted 10-month-old jaguar cub, plunges into a lagoon with her prize, a coati (a relative of the raccoon). Her mother has caught it specially and given it to her cub to practice her hunting skills.

At Caiman Ecological Refuge  a Nelore bull comes to drink from a pool, unaware that a jaguar is lurking metres away in a roadside culvert. On Estância Caiman, a 53,000ha ranch running around 35,000 head of cattle in Brazil’s Pantanal, jaguars kill more than 200 cows (<0.6%) annually. Once, such predation would have been met with swift reprisal. Since the founding of the Onçafari Project, Caiman is now a beacon for jaguar conservation in the Pantanal, one of the main farming regions of Brazil, demonstrating that tolerance and the potential for wildlife tourism more than compensates for this formidable predator’s penchant for fresh beef.

120kg Brutus, a hulking male jaguar, emerging from a lagoon. Jaguars love water and are superb swimmers. Though Brutus is massive, he is by no means the biggest or toughest cat on the block.  It is believed that the largest jaguars in the world are found in Brazil's Pantanal region.

Brutus, a massive 120kg jaguar, at full charge.  In fights he has lost part of his tail and ear and sports a freshly split lip.