Thanks to cameras, wildlife conservationists in Honduras have spotted a wild jaguar for the first time in over 10 years, further evidencing the importance of imaging technology in protecting endangered species.
Big cat conservation group, Panthera, captured the footage of the "impressively healthy” male jaguar strolling through the cloud forest on the upper reaches of the Merendón Mountain range, at an altitude of 2,200m, on February 06
Not only is this the first sight of a jaguar in the Hinduran wild for over a decade, but it’s also the highest altitude at which the species has been observed in the country, as jaguars typically inhabit areas below 1,000m.
There have only been three sightings of wild jaguars at high altitude in Honduras, and this latest footage is important evidence for researchers tracking big cat movements between Honduras and neighboring country, Guatemala, and further afield.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), jaguars have lost 49% of their historic range in the Americas and, aside from the largest population in Amazonia, all other jaguar populations are classified as endangered or critically endangered.
Speaking to CNN, Franklin Castañeda, Honduras country director at Panthera, said: “Deforestation and poaching are the biggest threats, and we have been working to tackle both.”
Castañeda went on to tell CNN that the latest jaguar sighting was “awesome,” explaining that researchers have surveyed big cats at Merendón Mountain for the past 15 years, and continuously for the past 10.
This new jaguar sighting came exactly 10 years and 2 days after the previous one, and precisely 2m from where the 2016 high-altitude sighting took place. The same camera traps also snapped images of a curious puma and ocelot – smaller feline species – "flirting" with the device.
Panthera’s wider conservation efforts are proving fruitful in 2026 too, as the group recently revealed it assisted researchers in capturing footage of a Sundra clouded leopard on the island of Borneo over a period of 6.5 years.
This marks the longest time any individual animal has been surveyed as part of any wildlife study.
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