Borderlands Jaguar (2026)

[bunniefuu]

[Austin] The border between

the United States and Mexico

may divide two countries,

but it unites a landscape

that has been traversed

by humans

and wildlife

for thousands of years.

Along the borderlands

of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico,

mountains rise

from the harsh desert below

to create Sky Islands

with diverse forest,

deep canyons, and a blend

of plants and animals

from across the continent.

Roaming these mountains

is a legend that drifts

across landscapes

through imaginations

and over borders.

An animal so beautiful,

powerful and elusive

that it has been revered

and worshiped as a deity

for thousands of years.

[majestic music playing]

Behold the apex predator

of the Americas.

[growling]

The jaguar.

The range of the jaguar

historically extended

deep into the United States.

It's a dream of mine and many

others to witness their return.

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Austin] We are headed

about four hours south

of the US-Mexico border.

[Ben] What are we looking for?

Jaguar. El tigre del norte.

Hola.

[Austin] Ben and I are headed

to the Northern Jaguar Reserve,

which is about 56,000 acres

in Sonora, Mexico.

And is part of the world's

northernmost population

of jaguars.

This population of jaguars

is the population

that is the hope

that jaguars

will once again, uh...

come back to the United States.

[Austin] We're coming down here

with the goal of filming

the elusive borderlands jaguar.

With the hope that our images

can help conservation efforts

south of the border,

and possibly inspire efforts

north of the border

to restore them

to their historic range

in the United States.

We're fortunate to have the

newest camera trap technology

that can capture details

of these cats

in a way

that has never been seen.

And we're meeting up

with the researchers

at the Northern Jaguar Project,

whose expertise will be crucial

in setting these cameras up.

[inaudible chatter]

[Austin] We have had

some incredible success,

Ben and I, camera trapping.

But we need to stay humble

in realizing that

all our success has come

from the research

and the work that biologists

and researchers do

for years, decades,

and lifetimes before us.

We are working with Miguel,

the reserve manager,

and Laqui, a field technician

for the reserve.

They have been our guides

to the place.

They've been showing us

the locations where they've

for years now, for decades,

been gathering photographs

on their own camera traps.

[in Spanish]

[Miguel in Spanish]

[in Spanish]

[in Spanish]

[Austin in Spanish]

[Miguel in Spanish]

So, like, this type

of habitat, is this...

Would this be a good spot

for jaguars to move through?

Yes, mm-hmm.

[Ben] Miguel and Laqui,

they have 20 years

of data and research

of where these cats travel,

what routes they like to use,

what passes they like

to go over,

what arroyos

they like to walk down,

where they like to hunt.

[Miguel in Spanish]

[Austin in Spanish]

[in Spanish]

[Austin]

[snarling]

[Ben]

The jaguar's historic range

extends across

much of South America

through Central America

and into the United States.

Petroglyphs, written accounts,

and dozens

of documented specimens

show that jaguars were recently

present in Texas,

New Mexico, Arizona,

and Southern California

During westward expansion,

predators were persecuted

and jaguars were trapped,

hunted and poisoned

to such an extent

that by the mid 1960s

they were extirpated

from the United States.

Jaguars were also being k*lled

south of the border,

but some were able to survive

in the remote mountains.

In an effort

to conserve these jaguars,

the Northern Jaguar Reserve

was established in 2003

to provide a safe haven

for jaguars to roam.

[in Spanish]

You know people

were just up here

for years and years.

And you know at some point,

someone was looking out

and saw a jaguar just making

its way through the valley here.

It's so special to know

that there are still places

where people have been living

with jaguar for generations,

on centuries,

and how it's still

such a normal part

of their everyday.

For me, it's so important to be

always reminded of my history,

of my roots.

My family's from Guatemala,

and there are jaguars

in Guatemala.

Not only are there jaguars,

but jaguars are a really

important

piece of the Mayan culture.

There's a place called Tikal

in northern Guatemala,

which is a very important site

for the Mayan people.

And I specifically remember

the first time

I had the privilege

to visit the jaguar pyramid

in Tikal.

Sunset coming down, and hearing

all the monkeys around me,

and recognizing that these

are where my roots come from,

these are where

my ancestors come from,

and that what mattered to them,

you know, matters to me.

And one of those things

is wildlife, right?

[snarls]

And the fact

that I get to be a part

of a film and camera

trapping jaguars,

that is something that, it was

literally a god for the Mayans.

And I get to have a part

to show people jaguars

is an incredible,

incredible privilege.

[in Spanish]

- Let's set the camera up.

- Let's do it.

[Ben]

That's a beautiful rock, too.

That's a sweet shot.

I mean, that's freaking awesome.

If I were a jaguar right now,

this would be one of the coolest

camera trap shots

we've ever gotten together.

Oh, for sure.

I've been

camera trapping with Ben,

you know,

going on five years now.

From filming ocelots

to filming bears

to filming mountain lions.

We'll do what can be done

to get a shot.

[acoustic string music playing]

[Ben]

A lot of the stuff

that we're doing

is very DIY.

Figure it out,

because in the world

there's maybe 50 or 100

professional camera trappers.

[Austin] If there's anything

we've learned about camera traps

is something

will always go wrong.

[Ben]

[Austin] We just need

to figure out quickly

what those things are gonna be,

fix them,

and then move on

to getting these shots.

- [Ben] Right.

- [Austin] It's a process.

[Austin] The partnership

that we've built

has come off

of failure and success.

[Ben] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

We got us an ocelot shot.

Oh!

[Austin] That light coming in

from that angle

gives it the perfect shadow

onto the rock.

Puma.

[Ben] Awesome, man.

[Austin]

We keep each other in check,

but we trust each other.

The other thing we can do,

put a tripod in the water

and just rock it up

around the tripod.

Right in front

of where you have it setting up,

and be lower.

That's a good idea.

I wish I had that idea.

[Ben] Laqui and Miguel,

they're telling me

that this is a good spot

to set up the cameras,

and only once

in the last six months

has there been a jaguar

that's walked through here.

Which really says a lot about

the scarcity of these cats.

And, you know, really how

difficult it's gonna be to, uh,

to camera-trap them.

And now...

we wait.

Vamonos.

[Austin]

The next six to eight months,

I'll be coming out here

on a regular basis

to check the camera traps,

to fix them, to clean them,

and hopefully every time

we come out here,

we'll have at least one shot

of a jaguar somewhere.

[Ben]

Our goal is to create images

and footage of jaguars

that stirs people's imagination

and hopefully leads

to conservation efforts.

There's a history of that

on the border

that was started

by an Arizona legend.

[Warner]

[Ben]

[Ben] Warner's images

were the first-ever photos

of a living jaguar

in the United States.

And they ignited

the public's imagination.

Scientists began researching

potential suitable habitat.

Jaguars were listed

as an endangered species,

and many ranches

and conservation organizations

began investing into

landscape-scale conservation

on both sides of the border.

But the excitement

of the jaguar's return

coincided with major changes

along the US-Mexico border.

[expl*si*n]

[dramatic music playing]

God, you can just see it.

- Just go on.

- [Warner] Yeah.

All the way

to the distant mountains.

[truck door closes]

[Ben] And then obviously...

[Ben] As of 2025,

a border barrier

has been constructed

on three out of every four miles

in Arizona, New Mexico,

and California.

Some sections

only block vehicles,

and a jaguar could

theoretically still cross.

Most of the border wall

is impassable for wildlife.

The parts of the border

that don't have a wall

are some of the most rugged

landscapes in the country,

where crossing the terrain

can be a greater challenge

than crossing the wall.

As long as some of these

travel corridors remain open,

there is hope for jaguars

to disperse back

into the United States.

[acoustic guitar music playing]

[Austin] Any time I go back

to check a camera trap

that I've set up,

there's always

a level of excitement.

There's always a level of nerves

knowing that

it has to be perfect,

knowing that the animal could

have gone a different way,

knowing that you could have

forgot to hit the on button.

And so when you finally

get to the camera trap

and you're

going through footage,

the amount of mood swings

that I go through is startling.

- [gasps]

- Hey.

[laughs]

Jaguar!

In the daytime.

[speaks Spanish]

If we have triggers working,

cameras working.

We just got our shots.

- Jaguar!

- Jaguar!

He's going straight

to where our camera's at.

Oh!

This is one of our, like,

research cameras.

So what this means if it stayed

in the same arroyo,

and if our nice

camera trap worked out,

then we're gonna get us

a jaguar shot.

That's a lot of ifs.

It looked like it was headed

right up into that canyon.

It's just fantastic.

Let's go check it out.

[acoustic guitar music playing]

Card full.

[Ben] Card full?

- That's not a good sign.

- [Ben] f*ck.

[Austin] And unfortunately,

because you're full

of all this excitement,

when you don't nail it,

it's such a hard hit.

That means... It means...

we got false triggers somewhere.

It's unlikely

we got it over there

if this one didn't trigger

and hit it.

Ah, that's disappointing.

We didn't get her.

Man, that really sucks.

Well...

we'll reset.

And we'll reconfigure and...

give it another six weeks.

[Austin] While we waited,

our guide Laqui

took us to meet his father,

who was a cowboy in the area

before it became a reserve.

We wanted to learn

about how jaguars

were historically treated

in Mexico,

and if things have changed.

[poignant string music playing]

[Austin in Spanish]

[Laqui]

[speaking Spanish]

[Laqui]

[chuckles]

[Miguel in Spanish]

[man in Spanish]

[Miguel]

[clears throat]

[dramatic music playing]

[birds tweeting]

[Austin] All right, got all new

camera gear in here.

Got old camera gear

packed in there.

Uh, you know,

got our packs ready to roll.

I think, uh, we're ready.

Vamos.

[dramatic music playing]

[chuckles]

[in Spanish]

[Austin]

I'm back to the reserve.

Uh, this is my third time.

And, you know, last time,

the second time,

we didn't have

much luck of jaguar.

We had some errors

with our equipment.

So hopefully,

this third time we have

a bit more to show for it.

Feeling grateful for these guys.

So I'm at the first location

that I'm checking.

And I don't know if you can see

this, but check this out.

Those...

pretty defined prints there.

Um...

Yo.

And our cameras

are situated right over here.

We got that camera there.

We have this camera here.

So hopefully,

our cat came

and found this knocked-over tree

pretty attractive.

So I'm gonna check

our research cam,

which is right over here.

Um, yeah. Let's see what we got.

Wow.

Oh, my gosh. Okay.

[exhales]

So we have...

a lot of jaguar activity here.

Oh, man.

Hopefully everything worked.

Oh, man. All right,

let's check these cameras.

Ooh!

All right.

Another coyote.

Plenty of coyote.

[gasps]

Hey, we got our first jaguar!

Let's go!

Look at that. Look at that.

Oh, can you see that?

Wait, wait, wait.

[uplifting music playing]

Let's go!

That's our first shot, y'all.

That's our first jaguar shot.

[exhales]

Mm!

[gentle music playing]

[Austin] This jaguar is an old

friend of Miguel and Laqui's.

They know her as Liblula.

The dragonfly.

Liblula is the matriarch

of the Northern Jaguar Reserve,

and has roamed these mountains

for at least 12 years.

Like all jaguars, Liblula has

a unique pattern of rosettes,

which the biologists use

to identify her.

Each year, around 50 jaguars

are identified

on the reserve

and the surrounding

Viviendo con Felinos ranches.

[growling]

Miguel and Laqui

have documented Liblula

with several partners

over her lifetime.

Here she is with Compa,

a large male.

When courting, they stay

together for several days.

And if they're successful,

the female will give birth

three months later.

Liblula has raised

several cubs on the reserve.

This is her cub, Angel,

at only a few months old.

Angel and the other cubs

seen on the reserve

are precious proof

that their conservation efforts

are working.

[uplifting music playing]

The mothers raise their cubs

for about two years

and teach them how to hunt,

stay safe,

and patrol a territory.

When the cubs leave mom,

they'll sometimes establish

a home range

within or next

to their mother's.

But they can also disperse

long distances

in search of a territory

of their own.

And some of these

dispersing jaguars

have started crossing back

into the United States.

[reporter 1] This is the only

known wild jaguar in the US.

He's named El Jefe,

or "the Boss" in Spanish.

For the first time ever,

video has been released

of the animal

captured on cameras

in the Santa Rita Mountains

outside of Tucson, Arizona.

[reporter 2] He likely came

to Arizona from Mexico,

but conservationists say

this new video really shows

that the animal is comfortable

here, healthy and eating well.

Now, to protect the animal,

the center will not release

the exact locations

where the cameras are.

A really big cat is snooping

around the Chiricahua Mountains.

The Center for Biological

Diversity released

a video of a jaguar

in the dead of the night.

[woman] I thought that they were

just like a jungle animal,

but I never would have thought

that it would be in Tucson.

[Austin] Since Warner Glenn's

1996 jaguar sighting,

at least eight

individual jaguars

have been documented

in the United States.

And all of them have been seen

in the Sky Island

mountain ranges

that extend on both sides

of the border.

Sky Islands are isolated

mountain ranges

that rise above

the harsh desert below.

The higher elevations receive

greater rainfall

and temperatures are cooler,

creating an oasis for wildlife.

[water babbling]

There are biodiversity hot spots

that blend temperate wildlife

like elk and bobcats,

with more tropical species

like ocelots.

In total, there are over

50 Sky Island mountain ranges

along or near the border.

They contain

the most likely habitat

for jaguars to disperse through.

And while

the Northern Jaguar Reserve

is nearly 200 miles

from the border,

that is not an uncommon distance

for a jaguar

seeking new territory.

This palm tree

is a communications center

that Liblula frequently visits.

She's leaving

her marks and scent

to communicate

with other jaguars.

Liblula came to this spot

six times in a single month,

and she doesn't

have a cub with her.

She seems to be looking

for a partner.

If she is successful,

her cub could potentially

travel north

and help bring back

the jaguar population

to the United States.

An example of how

a species from Mexico

can cross the border

and reestablish

a population

in the United States

can be found a few

hundred miles to the east

in the Big Bend region

of Texas, our home state.

In the 1950s, black bears

had been k*lled out of Texas

and were gone for decades.

But in the 1980s, lone males

started dispersing north

across the border from Mexico.

And it wasn't long

before the females followed.

For the last six months,

we've been searching

for mama bear

with little bear cubs.

And we finally found her.

Austin Alvarado

hitting the wide.

Ze big g*n.

And there she is.

[Austin] In my lifetime,

the Texas bear population

has gone from zero

to over 100.

Ben and I have spent months

filming them,

and they're proof that wildlife

can make remarkable recoveries

when they're given a chance.

[snarling]

As far as wild country goes,

the US-Mexico border contains

some of the largest

intact landscapes

in North America.

There's national parks,

huge ranches,

and wilderness areas

on the US side.

And millions of acres

of protected areas

on the Mexican side.

The landscape is so connected

that there has even been

a long-standing effort

to create binational parks

that connect our two countries.

There's millions of acres

of open country

and ample prey to welcome

northbound jaguars.

[brakes squeal]

It's my fourth time back now,

and I got Laqui with me.

He's helping out.

Uh, and then we got

a new camera assistant.

We got Apache here.

We pay him

in dog treats and pets.

You know, he's not that good

of a worker, but he's cheap.

So here we are.

The trio.

All right, let's see if we got

another visit from Liblula.

Or maybe one of her friends.

[gentle music playing]

So we got the jaguar at night.

Sali.

[Laqui] Buena.

[Austin] Bien, bien.

[ethereal music playing]

[Austin] As I was hoping,

Liblula came back

to her marking tree.

She was still alone

and seemed to still be searching

for a partner.

Off camera,

the microphones recorded her

calling into the night.

[jaguar grunting and snarling]

[branches snapping,

footsteps crunching]

[dramatic music playing]

A few nights later,

a large male showed up

in her territory.

He is known as El Guapo,

the handsome one.

He's leaving his scent

over Liblula's...

and is following her trail.

Two days later,

Liblula passed through

our camera again.

But this time,

El Guapo was right behind her.

We hoped to film Liblula.

Raising a new cub.

But it wasn't to be.

A few months later,

she was seen on trail cameras

looking frail and weak.

Soon after, a vaquero

found her in a canyon.

She had died

from natural causes.

[somber music playing]

The vaquero was part of the

Viviendo con Felinos program,

and he referred to her

as the Queen of the Northern

Jaguar Reserve.

The legacy of the queen lives on

with the kittens

that she raised.

If the Northern Jaguar Reserve

and other organizations

continue to be supported,

then these jaguars will

continue to have habitat,

and the hope of the jaguars'

return to the United States

will stay alive...

for as long as that door

of opportunity stays open.

[Austin] I haven't really gotten

too many opportunities

to see a wall built

in more wild places.

And at first glance,

this place reminds me

of the Big Bend in West Texas.

And it makes me think

what it would be like

if we had a wall out in that

West Texas Big Bend region.

And how things like black bear

coming back would be impossible,

or pretty damn close

to impossible.

[Ben] I mean,

if I had a 30-foot ladder,

I think I could get over that

in a couple of minutes.

But there's no way

a dispersing jaguar

is gonna pass

through that thing.

There's no way

a dispersing anything

is gonna get through that thing.

[Austin] Jeez.

[vehicle doors open]

[dramatic music playing]

[Austin] It's always that same

sense of "what the hell?"

Because you talk about it,

you hear about it,

it's all over the news.

But then you see

this son of a g*n.

[Ben] I just don't believe

it's gonna fix

our human immigration issues.

[Austin] No, no. And especially,

I mean, if you're young, like,

I can get up this side

just using my hands,

scooting up.

Just might, you know,

delay you a little bit.

[Ben] I'll slow you down

for a few minutes.

It's not gonna stop you.

[dramatic music playing]

[Ben] You can see those blue

mountains off in the distance.

And there's jaguars right there.

And it's the same jaguars

that could be living over there.

And there has been

untold amount of...

conservation dollars

and victories

and effort put into helping out

that jaguar population

so they could potentially

have dispersers that come here.

And, uh...

I mean, this is not gonna happen

if this thing

continues to get built.

But there are

two mountain ranges

that have historically

had jaguars

that the wall has not been

constructed through.

The Peloncillo

and the Guadalupes.

So, you know, there's hope

that that potential corridor

can continue to persist.

That opportunity will continue

to exist into the future.

[somber music playing]

[gentle string music playing]

[Ben]

The border isn't a black line

on a map that divides us.

It's an incredible landscape

that unites two countries

and our wildlife.

[Austin]

A landscape of opportunity

for binational

conservation efforts,

where both countries

can take pride

in stewarding a shared ecosystem

that is roamed by an animal

so powerful and sacred

that for thousands of years,

it has been revered as a god.

[majestic music playing]

[Ben] Our sincerest hope

is for these images to inspire

people on both sides

of the border.

To see what can be gained

by further conserving

the Sky Islands.

Protecting the remaining

travel corridors,

and rewilding the borderlands.

We hope the door of opportunity

always stays open.

[gentle music playing]

[tender music playing]