Brazil

In the end we will conserve only what we love;
We will love only what we understand;
We will understand only what we are taught.
Baba Dioum (1968 speech to I.U.C.N.)

I am on horseback at Caiman Ranch in the Pantanal of Brazil. My horse postholes through sucking mud and wades across shallow ponds. Before long, both horse and rider are covered with a slurry of sweat and mud. Still it's two hours before we stop and dismount at our destination, a forested island with a rank odor. What brings us here is a bloated, putrid carcass of a cow, the only signs of life the wriggling maggots. Yesterday this was money on the hoof. Today it's a jaguar kill and still money, though not on the hoof. How so?

Jaguar kills are not news in these parts. Ranchers are typically alerted by buzzards circling overhead. A professional jaguar hunter with hounds is called to the rescue. The cat runs, followed by the relentless hounds. Eventually the weary feline takes to the trees to escape the dogs, whereupon it is unceremoniously shot and left to rot where it hits the ground. Sad? It depends on your point of view. Illegal? Definitely, but so what? This is a big place with few people and less law enforcement.

But things are different now. Conservation groups, in an effort to save the endangered cats, will now pay ranchers for confirmed kills. Caiman Ranch gets a check for the dead cow and in return the jaguar gets to live. And the rancher even gets a bonus.

Cattle ranches of the Pantanal are building bunkhouses, but not for gauchos. They're for ecotourists. Adventure travelers will pay big bucks for the chance to see a wild jaguar, and they stay on the ranches since that's where the jaguars are. And the charismatic cats are much easier to see these days since they're no longer dodging bullets. So more ecotourists see more jaguars and go home happy and refer other tourists. Win-win. Ecotourism may indeed be the salvation of a way of life in the Pantanal, and of habitat for the jaguar and associated species.

Dense, steamy jungle lines both sides of the Pantanal River. I drift along with the silent current. The boat rounds a bend and vegetation opens slightly to reveal a sandy bank and this magnificent jaguar, apex predator of these parts. He gazes intently at a caiman in the distance, remaining frozen for nearly a minute while I snap photos. Then, apparently deciding the caiman is not worth the effort, the jaguar steals away into the forest.

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In the end we will conserve only what we love; We will love only what we understand; We will understand only what we are taught. Baba Dioum (1968 speech to I.U.C.N.) I am on horseback at Caiman Ranch in the Pantanal of Brazil. My horse postholes through sucking mud and wades across shallow ponds. Before long, both horse and rider are covered with a slurry of sweat and mud. Still it's two hours before we stop and dismount at our destination, a forested island with a rank odor. What brings us here is a bloated, putrid carcass of a cow, the only signs of life the wriggling maggots. Yesterday this was money on the hoof. Today it's a jaguar kill and still money, though not on the hoof. How so? Jaguar kills are not news in these parts. Ranchers are typically alerted by buzzards circling overhead. A professional jaguar hunter with hounds is called to the rescue. The cat runs, followed by the relentless hounds. Eventually the weary feline takes to the trees to escape the dogs, whereupon it is unceremoniously shot and left to rot where it hits the ground. Sad? It depends on your point of view. Illegal? Definitely, but so what? This is a big place with few people and less law enforcement. But things are different now. Conservation groups, in an effort to save the endangered cats, will now pay ranchers for confirmed kills. Caiman Ranch gets a check for the dead cow and in return the jaguar gets to live. And the rancher even gets a bonus. Cattle ranches of the Pantanal are building bunkhouses, but not for gauchos. They're for ecotourists. Adventure travelers will pay big bucks for the chance to see a wild jaguar, and they stay on the ranches since that's where the jaguars are. And the charismatic cats are much easier to see these days since they're no longer dodging bullets. So more ecotourists see more jaguars and go home happy and refer other tourists. Win-win. Ecotourism may indeed be the salvation of a way of life in the Pantanal, and of habitat for the jaguar and associated species. Dense, steamy jungle lines both sides of the Pantanal River. I drift along with the silent current. The boat rounds a bend and vegetation opens slightly to reveal a sandy bank and this magnificent jaguar, apex predator of these parts. He gazes intently at a caiman in the distance, remaining frozen for nearly a minute while I snap photos. Then, apparently deciding the caiman is not worth the effort, the jaguar steals away into the forest.

© Danny Kimberlin 2015