Original subtitles

LIZZIE: 'Week four in the Pantanal.'

LIZZIE: We're adapting. (LAUGHS)

'The non-stop rain leaves us marooned.'

It's really tough.

'The queen is back.'

Wait, there she is, Pedro! There, there, there, there!

'And high drama, as the team attempts to collar a brand new jaguar.'

LILI: I'm really worried now.

'I'm Lizzie Daly.

I'm a biologist and conservationist,

and I tag and track wild animals.

I'm here in the Brazilian Pantanal...

..with a crew of filmmakers

to try and understand one of the world's most elusive big cats.'

I'm joining a team of scientists on a ground-breaking

jaguar research project like nowhere else.

'Over five weeks, I'll be following

the most iconic jaguars and their families.

Fera, the Queen of the Pantanal.

Ferinha, the Free Spirit.

Badalo, the Contender.

Surya, the Supermum.

And Aroeira, the New Girl.

These big cats are now so used to scientists,

that they share their most private moments,

and let us in on the secret world

of wild jaguars.

This week, the jaguar collaring mission continues.

A few days ago,

the team successfully reattached Badalo's lost collar,

which I'd fitted

with an extra motion-tracking tag.'

This is the first time this tri-accelerometer has been deployed

on a jaguar in the wild, which is exciting.

'I programmed the tag to fall off in seven days' time.

But as we've learned, collars can get ripped off in battle.'

(GASPS)

'So I need to keep my eyes on Badalo

to stand any chance of getting the data back.

But since we last saw him,

Badalo has retreated into a remote flooded forest

and disappeared from sight.'

You know, floods, huge areas.

It's just impossible to access, so... really frustrating.

'Badalo may have given us the slip for now,

but we still have other tracking collars to deploy.

And vet Joares is here for just one more week.

The team knows which jaguars they'd like to collar,

but catching them in the right place at the right time, is the hard part.

Target number one is

the project's most important female. Fera.

She's lost her collar and has been roaming, untracked, for months.

But just this morning, she's been spotted

near the road.'

(ENGINE TURNS OFF)

There's been a sighting of Fera.

I can actually see Richard's car

way off. He must be, like,

three hundred metres away. He's right in the thick bush.

Apparently, Fera's walking towards us, so by chance,

we're just positioned really well,

and hopefully she'll be heading this way.

'I'm in a car with Pedro, and he thinks he's spotted her.'

PEDRO: Just there. Yeah, let's go.

Between the trees, there's a gap. You see just something moving.

Oh, she's moving slowly. Yeah.

MAN: Be careful, Liz. Yeah, that's fine.

Ready to go. Everyone hold on. Hold on to your pants.

OK, just keep eyes on her. Woo-hoo!

Well spotted. LIZZIE: Nice.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! There she is! There she is!

Yeah. Right behind those trees over there.

Yes, yes! She's so low. She's moving. She's moving.

She is. Look, look.

The way she's moving, it looks like she's chasing something.

'If Fera is on the hunt,

the collaring will have to wait.'

Look beside her. There's some pampas deers.

Whoa!

'But the deer needn't worry.

Today, Fera is targeting something smaller

hiding in the grass.'

(ROARS)

Oh, oh, oh, she's running. She's running.

Oh, my gosh! (GASPS)

It looked like she got something.

Yeah, it did.

Can you see?

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

Oh, hang on. What is that?

She's just hunted an armadillo!

You saw the movement, like this stalking thing? Like she's chasing.

Properly hunting. Crazy.

I have never seen that before. That's incredible.

Super lucky, actually. Yeah.

It's not easy to see a kill like that, and even an uncollared jaguar

in such a very hard prey like an armadillo.

That's pretty cool, to see a natural hunt like that.

'Turns out, this is one of Queen Fera's signature moves,

something that sets her apart from other jaguars.'

Fera likes armadillos.

It's interesting because it's something

that she maybe learned how to eat.

It's like if she eats in a bowl, so she leaves the shell behind.

She gets just nice and clean flesh.

She doesn't touch any organ. It's very gentle.

And she leaves everything, all the organs untouched.

And that's really cool cos you would think a jaguar would just crush

and destroy everything. But she gently picks

just the pieces that she likes.

And it's interesting because we've seen

other jaguars eating armadillos and throwing up afterwards.

So, maybe it's something that not all of them like.

But Fera definitely, it is one of the preys that she likes the most.

That is fascinating.

'Fera has incapacitated her prey,

but she's not stopping to finish the job.'

She's on the move, though. So I wonder where she's going now.

Yes. She moved. Hiding behind the trees.

Yeah. She moved there, and she entered the bush over there.

'Pedro is pretty sure

he knows what she's up to.'

(GROWLING)

You see, she's moving the mouth.

She's calling. She's calling. Yeah.

It seems like she's calling. (GROWLING)

Do you think she's calling Samba? Definitely she's calling Samba.

So he probably is around. Oh, my gosh.

Will she go to Samba now?

Cos she's got the armadillo with her.

She... She's leaving. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Wow, look! See? There he is!

There he is! No way.

Oh, so she's calling for Samba to feed.

No way! (LIZZIE GASPS)

'He is so much bigger than when I saw him last year.

He's a jaguar teenager now.'

No way! Look at him.

He's so big. He's huge.

Samba probably watched everything.

So he's learning.

I thought he would be further away. Yeah.

But very cool to see the calling

and then seeing another. It looked like he's...

..proud of her. Going towards her. Yeah.

And really happy.Yes. Brushing up against her and stuff.

'Pedro tells me Fera likely wants to use the armadillo

to teach Samba how to kill for himself.'

Sometimes we see that the mother just badly injures an animal

and lets the cub finish the kill. Mm-hmm.

So probably, soon, Samba will be in this stage.

'Fera takes Samba out of sight

to teach him how to eat his first armadillo.

It's fantastic to get to see Fera hunt,

but it means no collaring for now.

The team would never interrupt her hunting

or an important lesson for a cub to get a collar on.

So the field guides will try to keep track

of Fera overnight, and tomorrow, we'll try again.'

'Day two, and we head back out

on a mission to collar Fera.

She was the team's first successfully-rewilded jaguar.

Refitting her collar will not only allow the team

to continue to follow Fera's life story,

but also her cub Samba's,

as he goes through his key milestones to independence.

We've had word this morning that Fera has now moved close

to the cattle ranch.

And she's near another kill. This time, a cow.

If she's finished eating, it could be the perfect opportunity

to dart her.'

(SOFTLY) Apparently, Fera's just headed into the bush here.

She's with Samba.

But we have to just wait.

Be quiet, be patient,

and hope that she comes back out to the carcass.

What would be really helpful is if some of those vultures in the tree

went down to the carcass.

Because she'll be fiercely defending this carcass

and that would really bring her out of the bush, but...

(WHISPERS) There! On the edge of the bush.

The edge of the bush, I think it's Samba, the cub.

'And Fera's not far behind.'

They're both out. They're both out.

I love watching these two together.

He's so playful. He's so curious.

Big character. And Fera's always,

like, she's just so patient with him.

'The vet needs to decide

if this is the moment to dart her.'

(WHISPERS) Look at Samba.

This could be a really perfect position.

I don't know how ready the vet is,

but Fera is coming right out of the bush and into the open,

Samba is following behind her.

This is exactly what we wanted,

just them naturally coming out in their own time.

And in a position which is safe to dart.

This could be it.

She's sussing it out.

She's smelling the air.

OK, she's actually on the carcass now.

Wow. Wow, she's trying to drag it.

BEA: It's a long way to drag 300 kilos.Into the bush?

Yes.

'She's clearly still hungry.

Fera's strength is incredible.

She's capable of dragging carcasses up to 500 kilos,

almost eight times her body weight.'

(WHISPERS) Stashing her kill is quite a cool behaviour to see.

Yes. She's now eating.

'Once again, the team doesn't want to dart her

while she's actively feeding.

Fera needs to keep up her energy,

as she not only has to provide food for herself,

but she has to make sure

nearly nine-month-old Samba is well fed, too.

Unlike yesterday's armadillo snack,

a whole cow carcass will be food for them for days.'

(WHISPERS) Oh, no, no, no.

'Fera seems to sense something is up,

and heads back into the bush.

But the carcass is still in the clear.

There's a good chance they'll return.

So the team decides to wait.

Finding the perfect moment to dart a jaguar

clearly requires a lot of patience.'

(SNORING)

(WHISPERS) I like to think that our crew is always ready.

Not the case.

RICHARD: It's been three hours now.

The rest of the crew are out for the count.

'Finally, Samba returns.'

Samba's running.

Little trot out of the bush,

show them who's boss.

Fera's come out just to watch him.

(WHISPERS) Samba's right by the carcass, currently.

The vet is just 50 metres from Samba.

'But Fera's position isn't good.

She's hanging very close to the edge of the bush.

Maybe her sixth sense is tingling.'

BEA: She was a re-wild animal.

The first jaguar to ever be released back into the wild.

So the interest in monitoring her, it's huge.

So, she's been through sedation.

They're cats and they're super bright, super intelligent.

I don't doubt that she remembers.

'Jaguars are thought to have a good memory,

and Fera's sudden wariness of the vet

seems to prove the point.

There's no getting past Fera's cleverness.'

(WHISPERS) She's just standing there

looking a bit apprehensive on the edge of the bush.

'Fera's behaviour seems to indicate

she's trying to avoid being darted.

Once again, the team decides the timing isn't right

and pulls back.

For me, it's still an amazing opportunity

to stay and watch this mother and son interact.'

(WHISPERS) He's a few months older now,

so he will be a bit more independent and a bit more bold,

and you can see that in his behaviour.

But they're very much still together. He will still be,

you know, depending on his mum to learn new skills

and to learn about his environment.

He's so much bigger now.

He's just, like, really coming into his own.

'Samba is such a curious

and confident cub, and has really developed

his taste for meat.

From everything we're seeing, it looks like it won't be long

until he's actually out hunting with his mum.'

He's just feeding on the carcass now.

He looks comfortable.

'With the vet gone, Fera is now relaxing nearby

whilst her son enjoys his meal.'

(WHISPERS) Samba is doing a really good job

of defending that carcass.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

'After he's full, Samba takes a rest with his mum.

These two have such a close bond.'

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

'I could watch them all day,

but the rain is back.

Trying to dart and recollar Fera

is proving much harder than I thought.'

Fera one. Us zero.

'With time slipping away,

later that day, vet Joares decides to use another approach.

A foot loop snare that will give us a chance

to safely and ethically capture Fera overnight.'

We are heading off on a trail away from, kind of,

the main areas here on the reserve, and the idea is that

this is a bit more of a secluded but well-used areas for jaguars.

So, Joares is going to set up a trap here.

'The reserve is monitored by 40 camera traps,

so we know that Fera visits this location.

If we do get lucky, the snare triggers an alarm signal

that will be monitored around the clock,

so a jaguar will never be in a trap for longer than 30 minutes.'

JOARES: So, this will be the place where we set the trap.

'This might be the perfect spot to trap Fera,

but right now, I feel like we're the ones being ambushed.'

Pfft. These mosquitoes are brutal.

Mark, you've actually got one right on your eyelid.

MARK: Do you want to borrow my shirt?

If I could, that would be really fantastic.

The things we do. It's really sweaty.

I don't care at this stage.

Sweat is a welcome thing right now.

So, this doesn't hurt the animal in any way,

it just secures the animal. JOARES: Yes.

So the idea is to have a jaguar...

..come this way. Mm-hmm.

And set the paw right here in the middle.

OK, So your left hand.

Yep. Step here.

Is this the trap? Yes.

Gotcha.

Wow. Look at that.

So the system closed in your hands, right?

Yeah. It's not like it's right around my wrist.

Now that I've tried it and put my hand in it,

you can see how effective it really is.

It's secure, it's safe.

But you're definitely in that trap.

And it's just kind of a...

a weird thought to think that such an ingenious design

has come from trappers and is now being used

as a vital tool in conservation.

It's pretty impressive.

'The snare increases our chances

of recollaring Fera, the project's queen jaguar.

But with five extra collars still to deploy,

if any of the reserve's 100-plus uncollared jaguars

triggers the snare, it will still be a great opportunity

for the team here.

While I've been helping Joares prepare the snare,

Richard's been filming another part of the jaguars' story,

their prey.

As well as saving the jaguars,

Oncafari know they need to protect the waterways here

and monitor the animals these big cats depend on.

One in particular...'

Just on our way back, two really large caiman.

More than likely males, and they're both facing each other.

'With armour-plated skin,

Yacare caiman are another fierce predator.

And just like jaguars, males aren't afraid

to fight for their territory.

This iconic move

is called a death roll.

Used to flip prey or opponents off their feet.

After a short battle, the loser retreats.'

It happens so fast. They move so quickly,

and then they're just so static for very long periods of time.

It's interesting, very different to the jags.

Really exciting, never seen that before. Never seen two caiman fighting.

'What a way for Richard to end his day.'

'The next morning, our snare

has been unsuccessful in capturing Fera.

So I want to head back to the flooded forest

to see if I can get a glimpse of Badalo,

and see if my tag is still attached to his collar.'

(LIZZIE LAUGHS) We're adapting.

(LIZZIE LAUGHS) It's deep, it's really deep.

'His signal tells us roughly where he is,

but we just can't get close.'

God, we're really in the middle of the bush here.

Get heads down, everyone! Careful.

Wow, you can really see on here how thick...

..the bush is. You can barely see any ground at all.

It's really tough. I'm determined to find him.

'After hours of searching, still no Badalo.

We move around to try and find another way in,

and we spot a jaguar.

It's not Badalo.'

(SOFTLY) Wow.

'It's an uncollared female.'

Oh, wow.

What a surprise, literally, just driving down this road here,

and then out pops a jaguar.

'I haven't seen her before.

But I have heard a lot about her.'

We identified her. Uh, and that's Isa.

You think it's Isa? Yes.

'Isa is Fera's sister.

After being orphaned, they were rescued and rewilded together.

Isa's had many cubs in her life and is a fantastic mum,

just like her sister.

She's also an ideal jaguar

for a tracking collar,

so it could be time to call in vet Joares.'

Definitely her. Wow, no way!

She doesn't appear that often.

She's been very shy in the last... the last year, actually.

Like, we really want to capture her.

So this could be perfect.

'But there's a problem.

She's too close to a flooded area

for it to be safe to dart her.

A sedated cat and deep water are a bad mix.'

Probably is not the best position for free darting,

but it could be a very interesting place

to set a snare trap.

But this is something that only the vet can decide

and tell us what to do.

That's incredible.Yes. To see her properly here is amazing.

'While we wait for the vet team to arrive,

we keep an eye on Isa.

She's guarding her prize,

a carcass.

But she's got the usual competition,

from the ever-present vultures.'

We've got vultures. They've just come along the thermals.

They seem to be doing laps, assessing the situation, but...

..Isa has got eyes on them

cos she does not want these vultures on that carcass.

It's hers, and she will very quickly let them know that that's the case.

Vultures are incredible because they actually use

each other as signals for food and carcasses.

So if they see, you know, lots of vultures flying in a way

that's not just on thermals

then that's kind of a way of going, "OK, well,

there's potential food over here."

So they end up signalling to one another

over huge distances for food.

Nothing yet. They've just landed in the trees.

(WHISPERS) Walking over to the carcass.

'As she gets closer,

I spot something exciting in her appearance.'

Look at that heavy belly.

Her teats are massive.

'Could she be pregnant or have recently had a cub?

That would be another huge development,

and would make the prospect of getting a collar on her

even more exciting.'

She's headed over to the grassland area.

She's scanning, keeping an eye on the carcass.

This is our best sighting of Isa.

She keeps looking up to the vultures in the trees.

'But then she makes her way deep into the bush.

Another indication she could have a cub stashed nearby.'

Yeah, she's heading away now from the carcass.

She's going away.

'The vet team arrives and decides

that placing snares is the best option to try and collar Isa.'

The veterinary is checking that area where she was resting

to see if it's a good place to put the snare there.

'Joares sets up snares, just like the ones last night for Fera.

But this time, right next to the cow carcass,

as hopefully Isa will return to feed again soon.'

Covered it over with a lot of foliage,

so no one driving by or passing will be able to see it.

I have a feeling tonight is gonna be a long night

because there's four snares activated here

and a very unfinished carcass just a few metres away.

'We head back to get some sleep,

knowing we could be woken up during the night

if Isa, her sister Fera,

or any other jaguar triggers the snares.'

ELLIE: Lizzie?

ELLIE:

'It's a scramble in the dark to grab all of our equipment.'

LIZZIE:

(CAR HORN BEEPS) ELLIE: Yeah, we've got to go.

'We're against the clock to release the jaguar

from the snare within 30 minutes.'

MARK:

LIZZIE:

We're now running with the team

to try and find out what it is.

We don't know if it is a jaguar,

but everything is ready.

I've got this. Oi.

We are running as fast as we can.

It's OK to jump in here?

WOMAN: You can come. Mark and I?

'No time to lose.

I'm not even sure who I've jumped in the car with.'

Is this Pedro? Mm-hmm.

Hey. Sorry, I didn't realise it was Pedro.

Yeah, I don't what's... Good evening.

Good evening. Good day. Hello. Bonjour.

Wow. It's been really...

..hammering down with rain.

It's... been quite stormy as well.

Only about, what time?

Twelve minutes ago did we get...

a knock on the door to go, go, go.

Do you know if it's a jaguar? Or you're not sure?

We just got there and they checked, so it was a false alarm.

Oh. So, yeah.

So actually, something triggered the snare.

It could be a jaguar, but the thing is,

there's nothing there in the snare now.

OK. The first car just got there.

They just let us know that it is a false alarm.

Well, that's frustrating. (EXHALES)

My gosh.

Get out as fast as you can. That's it.

And then try and get back to sleep for an hour,

and then let's go again.

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

'Sleep is not on the cards. A huge storm hits...

..knocking out all power.'

So we are fresh from a...

quite a chaotic evening last night.

Since then, it's been a real series of events,

which has been a struggle for the crew and the team here.

We've had no power for almost a whole day now.

There's been storms coming in and out all day. There's been, you know,

all our radios are dead. We've lost all communication.

So, heading out today is a little bit more tricky.

'Power cuts mean we currently have no GPS positioning

on any of the four collared cats.

But we can investigate the snares.

There's a camera trap looking directly at the snare

we placed for Fera. So I'm excited to see

if it was her that triggered it last night.'

JOARES: We arrived this morning. We had a trigger.

But then we went to check the camera trap.Yeah.

In the first,

a couple of the crab-eating foxes came here.

Yeah. And one of them triggered the trap.

Oh, OK.So it was open, but they just stopped in front,

and then they start to walk around, and left the place.

So they set it off? Yes. And after that,

a female jaguar just crossed exactly here...

No! ..and stopped

on top of this bush.

Perfectly on the trap? Perfectly on the trap.

'It's not Fera. It's a female jaguar called Flor,

who has managed to evade Joares for years.'

OK, well firstly, I'm sorry.

That's a real annoyance for you guys,

but, I mean, it goes to show that it fully works

as you set it out to. She's stepping on the place you need her to.

'No luck this time,

but fingers crossed we get lucky in the next few days.'

Let's go again tonight, I guess. (LAUGHS)

Let's go. Reset, prepare everything again tonight.

You know it works.

We'll be good to go.OK. Nice!

Let's go back. Let's go.

We just need to make sure we exit on the right line,

so not to set anything off.

'Next up, I want to track down Badalo

and find out the fate of my tag.

We still have no GPS data due to the storm,

so we'll search for him using his VHF radio transmitter.'

We really need to get eyes on him and the tag

just to check on the state of it, and to prepare for the drop-off.

(BEEPING)

'We try for hours to pick up his signal...

..with no luck.

After being such a prominent figure in the area,

it's strange for him to disappear like this.

I'm starting to get worried I might not find my tag

when it drops off.

Time is running out for vet Joares, so we need to rejoin the search

for the other key jaguars we're hoping to collar.

And we immediately run into more members of Fera

and Isa's family.'

WOMAN: VHF, there's a jaguar in the road.

(GASPS) Two jaguars in the road. Who is that?

Uncollared.

Oh, it's a cub, it's a cub.

Oh... Who is that?

Wow, look at the cub staring at us.

So the mum's just gone into the bush.

(GASPS) The cub's going off. Wow.

Oh, my gosh. I can see the face.

Oh, she's coming out.

Coming straight for us down the road. Wow.

'Aracy is Isa's daughter

and Queen Fera's niece.'

She has a feature... very characteristic of her.

She's missing part of her left ear.

Oh, yeah!

Wow, this is our first time

getting a really good glimpse of this female,

and a cub,

who looks quite big

and has an amazing pattern around the neck.

Wow. That's beautiful.

So they're just in the road at the minute.

Just assessing. But she's coming right for us, so...

best just to stay here for now, see what she does.

She's just assessing the scenario.

Gosh.

Oh, cub's lying down in the road. Brilliant.

OK, she's walking right towards us.

This is really good.

She's super relaxed.

'Aracy is known to be super confident.

So this encounter could get even closer.'

Wow. BEA:

OK. Right, we'll be very quiet.

(CHUCKLES) Oh. She's lying in the road.

(CHUCKLES) But she must be...

..30 metres away. She's very close.

The cub's just gone back into the bush on the edge.

'Aracy's cub is called Jaci, and is around ten months old.

He's not as confident as his mum

and keeps himself hidden in the bushes.'

She's currently just licking her paws.

That cub is beautiful.

(LAUGHS AND SNIFFLES)

That's incredible.

She's currently licking herself. And, uh, funny

because if you feel the tongue of a jaguar,

all these spikes on it, it's actually really rough.

And they use this to actually...

feed, and it's really helpful for them for like,

licking off meat from the bone,

and licking the skin of prey and stuff like that, so...

..it's a huge tongue. (CHUCKLES)

'Bea then explains the family tree in more detail.'

She's one of the...

She's the second daughter that Isa's had.

Ah, really? So she's a younger sister of Aurora.

Oh, no way. Yes.

'I'm still to meet Aurora, who already wears a collar.

Her mum Isa and her aunt Fera are our targets.

So Aracy is not on our list for a collar today.

But hearing how these families all intersect

demonstrates the depth of understanding

that the team have built up over ten years.

The collars have allowed them to follow the jaguars so closely

and understand their intricate family history.'

Well, and since she was very young and juvenile,

she was like, super confident and...

Wow. You can tell, though,

because of how bold she is just sat in the road here.

And actually, this is her first cub. Really?

It's the first time that she has given birth.

Wow. And this is the third...

I think this is the second or third time

that we can actually see this baby.

Wow. That's big. This is why we're crazy

with the cameras and trying to take photos and videos, because like...

Oh, my God.This never happens. No, no, no.

'From Aracy's behaviour,

it seems like she's bringing Jaci out,

encouraging him not to be afraid of the vehicle.

All part of the Oncafari habituation process

that seems to pass down through the generations.'

I know I shouldn't have favourites, but...

that's probably one of the most beautiful cubs I've ever seen.

Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

She's coming right towards us now.

(GASPS)

That cub is... I'm in love with that cub.

That's such a beautiful cub.

'Aracy is constantly communicating with Jaci,

getting him to follow her every move.'

Even in our whole,

you know, efforts this morning to try and find Badalo

and just seeing nothing, you still get these rewards.

Just, you know, uncollared female

with cub just walking through the flooded area,

cooling down, communicating. It's just...

..stunning. There's nothing like it.

She's just continued on down that road.

Hopefully the cub will have the confidence to follow her.

'We may not have collared a jaguar today,

but we do have a mission planned

for after dark.

We're going to head back to the carcass where Isa was.

One of the field guides has confirmed she has a cub.

So it will be interesting to observe this mum's behaviour at night.'

The carcass is just on the left hand side here.

Going very slowly. (SNIFFS)

You can smell it. (CHUCKLES)

It's Isa. (GROWLS SOFTLY)

Oh, there she is, there she is.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

She's going in between the carcass...

..and us.

And she's been heading across the road

because her cub is on that side.

We haven't seen the cub yet.

'Due to the weather, the snares haven't been set tonight,

in case we can't get through to release a jaguar fast enough.

But it's a great opportunity to see what she gets up to after dark.'

This is unbelievable. (CHUCKLES)

You can see Bea carefully shining the light,

but not shining it in her eyes,

because cats' eyes are very sensitive.

'Using a red light avoids dazzling her.

This light sensitivity gives them excellent night vision.

They have a mirror-like structure at the back of their eye

which reflects light back into the retina,

improving their ability to see at night.

With this amazing eyesight,

jaguars like Isa are great night-time huntresses.'

It's like she's forgotten we're here.

We know that Isa has a cub,

so it is really important that she feeds as much as possible

and then gets back to that cub safely.

Should we leave her to it? Leave her alone?

Oh, yes, definitely.

Bye, Isa. Bye, Isa.

'Observing the jaguars here at night

and recording their behaviour all helps

to build up a picture of what they do 24 hours a day.'

What a way to see out the day. (LAUGHS)

'But it doesn't quite end there.'

Guys, there's a giant anteater!

We'll have to stay downwind cos they have an amazing smell.

We just want to make sure this giant anteater carries on feeding.

'Anteaters are known for their power and their appetites.'

These huge, giant claws,

they dig up anthills and termite mounds with,

and they can consume around 30,000 to 35,000 ants

and termites in a single night.

'And it will have used its incredible sense of smell to locate them.

It's 40 times more powerful than ours.'

So, here,

you can just see that really long,

elongated mouth.

That is the giant anteater's weapon for hoovering up

these thousands and thousands of ants and termites.

Thing is about giant anteaters,

you do not want to come across their really powerful claws.

Even to jaguars, these giant anteaters are a real threat.

This is what they'll do. They'll dig with their claws

into these mounds and then use that huge, long, sticky tongue,

which is as long as their face, to actually lap up

all the thousands of ants and termites.

To see one this close is incredible!

(CHUCKLES)

That is the spot.

After having a day of jaguars, and then we'd see a giant anteater

scratching itself on a post,

I'd tell you you're a liar. (LAUGHS)

I'm gonna leave this giant anteater

to carry on feeding throughout the night.

We're sleeping 20 metres that way,

and there's one of the most iconic animals

of this region right in front of us. Just awesome.

'It's the vet's last day at the reserve.

We've barely started our search

for our target jaguars, Fera and Isa,

when we have an emergency radio call

from Lili.'

We just heard over the radio,

Lili has told us to go. We don't really know why.

'I'm getting used to the fact that every day here

can be full of surprises.

We're constantly kept on our toes

and ready to seize any opportunity.'

If Lili is asking for help from the team,

then you've got to go as quickly as possible.

How's it going? What's going on?

Uh, it's Aroeira, she was on the carcass,

the vet already darted and she ran to that bush.

We are struggling to find...OK. ..and see where she is.

'And yet again, another surprise.

The vet has darted a brand new female, Aroeira.

She's from a different family tree to Fera

and the other collared jaguars.

So it's an exciting development.'

Alright, so everyone out. Out of the vehicles.

And it's a bit of a race against time now,

because she's been free darted.

The next priority is finding that jaguar.

'She's not used to humans, so darting her carries extra risk

as she could have run deep into the bushes.

It's an anxious wait.'

It's that tense moment where...

with a free darting, it can spook the animal.

(SPEAKS PORTUGUESE) And then if they run off

and they lose sight of her, that's a big problem

because they don't know if she is lying, then, in a flooded area,

or is in danger, or has got caught up somewhere.

Sorry, I'm really worried now because they are not answering.

(RADIO STATIC)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO) I think they've found her.

(SPEAKS PORTUGUESE) (IN ENGLISH) Phew, OK.

'It's good news, but Lili can't relax

until she has confirmation the sedation has worked.

This female is unhabituated, so would have produced more adrenaline

when she was darted. This can burn off the sedative faster

and make it less effective.'

A half-asleep jaguar

is not the thing that we want. We want 100% fully asleep jaguar.

So I'm still worried a bit.

Have to talk in a low volume because she's not fully asleep.

OK.So we're gonna wait for her to sleep and then...

OK. Guys, guys. (INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)

Richard, speak quietly.

'As an unhabituated female, it's a unique opportunity,

but Lili is worried that the jaguar isn't fully sedated.'

I'm really worried now.

'Finally, Lili hears from the vet.

Aroeira is fully asleep.

This is a really important moment for the team.'

Possibility of her receiving a collar is great for habituation,

it's great for us to know her.

So I think it's going to be a win.

You know? Super relieved now.

Now I'm gonna get ready to go there.

'We move closer to where the vet is,

but still keep our distance.'

The jaguar's just lying on the back of that truck.

And we're waiting to get the go-ahead to head in.

What's exciting about this female is that

she's one that's only been sighted

about ten times in all her life.

She's very elusive, she lives very much in the bush.

And this is our first time meeting her.

'We get the go-ahead to move in.'

(MOUTHS)

'Up close, she is stunning.'

(WHISPERS) So exciting being here again,

but we're in a totally different scenario.

This is a female, she's a lot smaller,

she's reacting in a completely different way to Badalo.

You can see her heart rate's much faster than Badalo.

She's really aware.

But the team are just a well-oiled machine.

Everyone knows what they're doing.

There's measurements being taken,

she's being kept cool,

her heart rate's being taken, blood samples, hair samples,

her teeth length. All of these things

that will tell the team really important information

about her life history.

And in terms of collecting all this data and collaring her,

they're going to find out brand-new science

about a brand-new jaguar, which is huge for the team here.

They don't even know if she's had a litter or cubs or anything,

so this is all brand-new information.

So they must be feeling

pretty excited right now.

'Now the collar is on,

it's time to transfer our sleeping beauty into the shade

to recover for the next few hours.'

Collaring Aroeira for the first time is a really unique opportunity.

The research team here know nothing about this cat.

We know she's elusive, she likes the forest.

But other than that, we know little else.

How big is her territory? Who does she interact with?

Who does she mate with? What is she like as a mother?

And suddenly, this collaring has opened up a window of opportunity

to find out all these things about her.

'Habituating Aroeira will be a slow and careful process.

But I can't wait to follow her story.'

That couldn't have been more perfect.

Literally, the sun has just set

and we've successfully collared a brand-new female jaguar.

'Hopefully, over the next week, we'll get to know her more.

With the two-week collaring and capture campaign over,

unfortunately, there'll be

no collar on Fera for now.

But I have an even bigger mission.

I have just 48 hours to try and find Badalo and retrieve my tag.'

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