Wild cats of Latin America

Jaguar in the Pantanal: rivers where the cat comes into view

The northern Pantanal has become one of the world’s leading places for following wild jaguars. The landscape is as important as the number of cats. As water levels fall, wildlife gathers around rivers and channels, and jaguars use the banks for resting, hunting and moving through their territories. Capybara and caiman help make the water’s edge a natural hunting ground.

Around Porto Jofre, most searches are made from small boats. Guides and boatmen know the river systems, keep track of fresh sightings and notice everything from alarm calls to movement in the vegetation. A jaguar may spend an hour in shade beside the water, swim across a channel or appear suddenly on an exposed bank.

July to October is usually the key period for specialist jaguar watching. Water levels vary from year to year, and several mornings and afternoons on the river give a far fuller sense of both the cats and the wetland around them.

The Pantanal is much more than jaguar

The Transpantaneira runs south from Poconé through a landscape where capybaras lie beside the road, caiman gather in pools and jabiru storks rise above the marsh. Hyacinth macaws, howler monkeys, giant otters and an exceptional variety of birds make the journey through the Pantanal an experience in its own right.

A few nights at a lodge along the Transpantaneira provide a different perspective from the boat days near Porto Jofre. Safari drives, riding, walks and smaller waterways show how quickly the scenery changes between woodland, open grassland and water.

Once you have seen the prey, rivers and open banks, it becomes clearer how jaguars use this wetland and why the Pantanal has become such an important place for watching them.

Jaguar in the Amazon and other forest regions

The jaguar’s range extends far beyond the Pantanal. It is found in the Amazon, in parts of Central America and across several other South American forest regions. In dense forest, its presence is often revealed through signs rather than direct views. Tracks in mud, camera trap images and marks along trails can show that a large predator is moving through the same landscape.

In the Amazon, the forest and river system are the main event. Monkeys, macaws, sloths, river dolphins and flooded forest create a wildlife journey with a completely different character from the Pantanal. In Costa Rica’s Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula, jaguars share the ecosystem with tapir, peccaries and rich tropical birdlife.

A paw print on a riverbank or a camera trap image makes the predator’s presence tangible even when the cat itself remains unseen.

Puma in Patagonia: tracking across open country

Pumas range across a huge part of the Americas, but the country around Torres del Paine and neighbouring ranches in southern Chile has become particularly well known for tracking them. Open plains, rocky slopes and large guanaco herds come together in a landscape where the cats can be followed across considerable distances.

Days often begin early. Trackers scan from high ground, interpret the reactions of guanaco herds and follow familiar routes through the terrain. Once a puma is found, the observation may continue for a long time as the cat rests, moves through scrub or watches a herd below. Binoculars and spotting scopes are a natural part of the experience.

Specialist puma tracking runs throughout the year, but the character of the trip changes with the seasons. From roughly May to September there are fewer visitors, shorter days and colder conditions. Spring and summer bring much longer daylight hours and more time in the field, along with stronger winds. Winter suits travellers who value quieter conditions and fewer visitors and are comfortable with colder, shorter days. Spring and summer suit those who want long days outdoors.

This is very different from jaguar watching in the Pantanal. Wind, walking and terrain matter more here. For travellers who enjoy being out in the landscape and following an animal over time, it is one of the most absorbing wildlife experiences in southern South America.

Ocelot: the spotted cat of the night

The ocelot is one of Latin America’s most striking smaller cats. Dark rosettes, a sturdy build and bold facial markings set it apart from margay and the smaller tiger cats. Its range extends from Mexico through much of South America and covers habitats from rainforest to drier scrub.

Ocelots are most active from dusk to dawn. Many sightings therefore come on night drives, along forest roads or around lodge grounds where prey is plentiful. An individual may appear unexpectedly and then use the same part of the forest for several evenings.

On a journey with plenty of time in good tropical habitat, the ocelot is always worth keeping in mind. Night outings also sharpen the senses for owls, frogs and the many mammals that emerge after dark.

Margay and jaguarundi: two very different cats

The margay is built for the trees. Its long tail provides balance, while unusually flexible ankles allow it to descend a trunk head first. Large eyes suit a life that unfolds mainly after dark and often several metres above the forest floor.

The jaguarundi has a completely different shape. It is long and low, with short legs and a plain coat that may be grey brown or reddish. It is more often active by day and moves through forest edge, scrub and open patches with a quick, purposeful gait.

Together the two species show the range of forms among Latin America’s smaller cats. One is a specialist of the canopy, the other is built for movement close to the ground. An unexpected sighting of either is unusual and especially prized by experienced wildlife guides.

Leopardus tilcayo: the newly described cat from Bolivia’s Yungas

The Yungas form a humid belt of mountain and cloud forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes. The story of Leopardus tilcayo began there in 2016, when Bolivian biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz heard about an unusually small spotted cat that had arrived at Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary near Coroico. A local man had found it as a kitten beside a road near forest and cared for it. Nogales-Ascarrunz photographed the animal and initially thought it was Leopardus tigrinus. In 2019, while working on a guide to Bolivia’s cats, she noticed that its rosettes were much larger than those on reference animals from Brazil. That detail opened the door to a much larger genetic investigation. National Geographic has told the story behind the scientific description.

On 17 September 2026, Current Biology published the study that named the cat Leopardus tilcayo. Researchers analysed complete genomes from 38 individuals in the genus Leopardus. The results showed that the tilcayo represents a distinct evolutionary lineage that separated from close tiger cat relatives about 1.4 million years ago. The name comes from the local term already used for the animal.

The research team describes the tilcayo as the first living cat species in more than a century to be formally described as entirely new to science. Leopardus guttulus, for example, was recognised as a distinct species in 2013 after genetic work on populations that were already known.

The tilcayo is small. The living individuals studied directly measured about 46 centimetres in body length and weighed around 1.4 kilograms. Only two living individuals have been studied at close range, making the species a remarkable example of how little is still known about some of the smaller predators of the Andes and Yungas.

The same study showed that the South American tiger cat complex contains five genetically distinct species. In Peru’s Yungas, researchers also described the new subspecies Leopardus tigrinus antisuyo, named after Antisuyu, the eastern region of the historical Inca Empire. The work provides a much more detailed picture of the cats living on the eastern slopes of the Andes and may prove important when small, geographically restricted populations are assessed for conservation.

For travellers, the scientific description adds another reason to be fascinated by the Yungas. The cloud forest is already one of South America’s richest biological zones. We now know that it also holds a cat that science did not recognise as a distinct species until 2026.

Photo: Alessandro Verniani / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · image cropped and prepared for the web by SambaTravel.

Following wild cats with respect

The best sightings happen when the animal is free to carry on with its own behaviour. A jaguar resting on a riverbank, a puma moving through guanaco country or an ocelot crossing a forest road is compelling precisely because nothing has been staged.

In the Pantanal, this means boats keeping their distance and leaving clear routes along the bank and across the water. In Patagonia, it means judging the animal’s direction and relying on binoculars when the distance grows. Females with young and cats feeding on a kill need additional space.

We favour guides and operators with strong tracking experience and sound field ethics. It makes for calmer encounters and usually a much better understanding of what is happening in front of you.

Build the journey around the right landscape

Travellers who want wild cats to be a central theme can choose the northern Pantanal for jaguar or southern Patagonia for puma. Both regions deserve several full days because the landscape and the wider wildlife are a major part of the experience.

The Pantanal combines naturally with the Amazon, Rio de Janeiro or Iguaçu. Patagonia can be extended with glaciers, hiking and the open country farther south. For a wider comparison of regions, species and ways of experiencing nature, see our guide to Wildlife in Latin America.

The smaller cats broaden the wildlife journey. Ocelot, margay, jaguarundi and the small Andean species are usually bonus sightings on night drives and forest roads, and their presence is often known only from tracks or camera trap images.

How we plan it

For jaguar, we build the journey around three or four full boat days near Porto Jofre and a few nights along the Transpantaneira. July to October is usually the key period.

For puma, we plan several tracking sessions around Torres del Paine and tailor the amount of walking and terrain to the traveller. Tracking operates year round. Winter is quieter with fewer visitors, while spring and summer bring longer days in the field.

We treat the smaller cats as part of the wider wildlife journey, not as a checklist. Night drives and forest roads can produce sightings, but many species remain bonus encounters.

Wild animals can never be guaranteed. The right season, enough time and experienced local guides can, however, improve the chances considerably.

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