Original subtitles

LIZZIE: 'This time, on Jaguar Journals...'

Here, here, here! Here!

'..we finally spot the most elusive cat here...'

Oh, wow!

'..our newly-collared Aroeira surprises us all...'

CHIPA: (WHISPERS) There's a cub! Chipa has just seen a cub.

'..and it's a race against time to retrieve Badalo's tag.'

(GASPS)

'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.

'It's the final week of my work with Oncafari's Jaguar Project.

Soon, I'll have to say goodbye to these incredible cats

and their families.

Before I do, I'm determined to get my tag back from Badalo.

And I want an update on the race to be the dominant male.

But first, I want to meet up with Aroeira,

our most newly collared jaguar.

This will be the first time since we collared her we've tracked her down.'

Today we're out with biologist Marcos

and Chipa to find one of the most elusive cats here.

Aroeira. She was the female that we collared just a few days ago,

and the team have only seen her about ten times in total.

'We know virtually nothing about Aroeira's life or her personality.

But, now she wears a collar,

we're receiving important data on where she likes to hang out.'

The GPS data is coming in thick and fast.

We know she's been sticking, generally,

to the same area of the capture, but right in the bush.

So, we've really got a bit of a challenge ahead.

I'm very much looking forward

to getting to learn more about this girl.

That way, definitely.

'Aroeira's love of the dense forest

is different to the other collared cats,

and will make it harder to reach her.

But I think she'll be worth the effort.'

(BIRDSONG)

'She's from a different family tree, prefers different habitat,

and for all we know,

has a totally different way of being a jaguar.'

This is where we have to be careful, because she's not habituated.

She's very shy.

OK, eyes peeled, everyone, she might be here.

Eyes on, eyes on.

(GASPS) There she is, there she is! Wow!

(GASPS SOFTLY, WHISPERS) Aw.

(WHISPERS) She is beautiful.

'Aroeira represents the start of a new phase of study for Oncafari.'

You see that golden coat up close?

You see all those beautiful rosettes, but her eyes are something else.

They kind of flick upwards. And she's got just this lovely face.

Very different-looking jaguar to anything I've seen.

'It sounds obvious,

but jaguar genetics pass along facial features -

just like human genetics do.

And I can clearly see the different lineage in Aroeira's expression.

Considering she's newly collared,

I'm amazed she seems to be so relaxed.'

She's a cat that's right at the beginning of her habituation journey.

In fact, you could probably say

she represents probably one of the most wild cats here.

This is really good. It's going in the right direction.

'We know Aroeira's mum is Manduvi,

and that she's part of a litter of two.

But we have no idea whether she's been a mum yet herself.

Before we can start to gather that information,

and discover if there are differences between the shy forest cats here

and those that live in more open areas,

we have to show her that we're safe to be around.

And one of the first things they need her to get used to

is the sound of the car engine.'

(ENGINE STARTS)

No, relaxed. Relaxed. MARCOS: Relaxed.

Didn't even... Yeah.

'She passes that test with flying colours.

What we're really interested in with Aroeira

is whether there are any telltale signs of motherhood.

And Chipa spots the most telltale sign of all.'

CHIPA: (There's a cub.) (You can see a cub?)

(Chipa has just seen a cub.) (INDISTINCT WHISPER)

(I haven't seen it yet. Do you know roughly how old?)

(SPEAKING PORTUGUESE)

No way. Tiny! Two or three months.

Yeah. Very tiny.

'That's yet another little one on this year's bumper cub tally.

It's more proof that Caiman Reserve is a haven for wild jaguars.

It's just a glimpse.

The cub blends so well into the dense background,

it's practically invisible.

But knowing it's here when we're spending time with Aroeira,

means we're also habituating the cub.

Her collar is already paying off.'

Nobody has ever seen a cub with her.

And now we just saw it, just for a quick moment,

and it's very exciting.

'Every cub that's monitored here adds to the Oncafari research

on jaguar motherhood.

It will be fascinating to get to know this brand new family...

..particularly when the cub is so tiny!

But, as it's still our first date with Aroeira,

we don't want to outstay our welcome.'

I think we should probably leave her to it.

We've been here for a little while now, and that is an absolute win.

She is a beauty.

'The team will gradually build up time spent

with this unhabituated cat.'

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

'Plus, rain and film cameras don't mix well.'

I think we've got T-minus ten minutes. (CHUCKLES)

(ENGINE STARTS) (MUTTERS)

'Tomorrow, a big day awaits.

Richard will keep monitoring Aroeira,

and slowly work on her habituation.

But I'll be heading in search of Badalo.

Eight days ago, we managed to fit my Wildbyte Technologies tag on him,

making him the first wild jaguar to have this high-tech accessory.

Fingers crossed we will have collected enough data on the tag

for new insights into Badalo's life.

But current conditions out here

have made it almost impossible for me to keep tabs on him.'

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(THUNDERCLAP)

'Next morning, we're up early,

as we need to find Badalo before 5:00 AM,

when my tag will drop off.

But there's a problem.'

Hello?

'The huge storm overnight took out the Internet.

So we can't access Badalo's latest GPS movements.

We're going to have to make an educated guess,

based on his patterns of behaviour and using the telemetry.'

So this morning we're out with Mario Nelson and Pedro.

This is an ATV.

It's more versatile, it's quicker.

It means we can cross much more difficult environments and terrain.

So this is our best bet to actually get close to Badalo.

We've got no idea where he was last night,

no idea where he's been overnight.

And we know he travels up to ten kilometres in a night,

so it's anyone's guess. (CHUCKLES)

Yesterday, he was in one of the furthest forests away from us,

away from our main base camp as possible here in the reserve, so...

we're heading there via all his favourite spots.

The likelihood of us finding it right now is like...

..two out of ten, I'd say.

I'll be just... so excited if we find the tags.

'I've got everything crossed, but of all the big cats here,

Badalo has kept me guessing in his race to become dominant male.

He was the first jaguar I ever saw.'

(Yes, here. Here.)

'He was initially shy and elusive,

before we watched him confidently woo Queen Fera,

and rule over a carcass at night.'

(GROWLS)

'But then, big male Carai turned up,

and began mating with females in Badalo's territory.

And while we were away...'

(GASPS)

'..Badalo fought with outsider Cascalho,

who ripped off his collar.

It seemed like it was game over for Badalo's hopes to be boss.

But just before we recollared him,

we discovered that he was forming a coalition with Acerola,

sharing territory and females.

Then, recently, something's changed.

Badalo has been moving further and further away,

almost out of the reserve.

Might he be about to disperse after all?'

It's just gone 5:00 AM, which is a really significant time,

because this is the time of the tag drop-off.

'If the mechanism worked,

the tag should now be lying on the ground,

hopefully not underwater.

If it didn't, it's still attached to an enormous wild jaguar

who likes to play hide and seek.

We need to find Badalo to check he's tagless.

Let's hope he hasn't moved far, or taken a dip at the wrong time.

We check out one of his favourite patches of forest.'

Pedro's just found a signal of Badalo.

And we know, from looking at his previous data,

that he likes this forest.

First thing's first is actually trying to get to Badalo.

This way. In there?

'The radio transmitter is telling us he's close...

..but Badalo is not playing ball.

He's on the move.'

He's basically headed into the one area

that's been almost inaccessible to researchers

and to us for GPS data so, yeah, he's off.

'All we need is a tiny glimpse

to confirm that he's not wearing the tag.

But it's not looking good.'

At this point, there's really nothing else we can do.

This patch of forest goes beyond the limits of the property.

So beyond our studying area, and far inside as well.

So that's a big, big stretch. Big stretch.

He's painfully close right now.

Painfully close.

(INSECTS CHIRP)

I see him. There, there, there! I just saw him.

I see. I see.

(I can't quite believe it, but we've actually found Badalo.)

(He must be ten metres away from us just in the bush here.)

(Can you see his collar?)

Sounds unbelievable,

but there is a leaf right in front of where the collar should be.No!

Mario Nelson will try his camera, to photo anything.(OK. OK.)

(CAMERA CLICKING)

It's off.

Now we've got eyes on the collar, and the tag's dropped off.

I'm really happy that it's dropped off as it should,

and now we just have to find it.

So part one of the mission is complete. (CHUCKLES)

(BIRD SQUAWKS)

'Hopefully, my tag is somewhere inside this patch of trees.

But I'm definitely not getting out to look

while Badalo is lurking nearby.'

(SPEAKING PORTUGUESE)

(GASPS)

He's moving. Yeah.

(TRANSMITTER BEEPS STEADILY)

Far away, though, Pedro. No? Yeah.

OK.

That's the main thing, at this point, is safety.

(SIGHS) Do you think it's safe?

Safe. OK.

Let's go. Let's get in there. Yeah.

'Of course, Badalo is not the only cat we have to worry about.

Here in the Pantanal,

there's a jaguar every 13 square kilometres.

So we still have to be vigilant.'

MARIO NELSON: Tracks here. LIZZIE & PEDRO: Fresh?

Very good, Mario Nelson!

Mario Nelson found a track. Here.

If you come here,

you can even see his paw here, the fingers.

(WHISPERS) Ah, yeah, you can.

'The tracks give us a great place to try using the radio antenna.'

(RADIO STATIC BUZZING)

'The tag should be sending me a signal...

(STATIC CONTINUES)

..but I'm not picking anything up.'

Bit of a worry that I can't actually hear it at all.

So either it's broken or...

..it's just not near us.

'If the antenna on the tag isn't working,

it really will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

My only hope is that the Internet comes back online,

so I can check GPS.

If I can see where Badalo was when the tag dropped off,

that will tell me where to look.

But with all this seasonal flooding, I can't help but fear

that maybe my tag is sitting at the bottom of a swamp.'

'With the Internet still down, we return to base.

But on the way,

I spot an extraordinary fight going on in the water.'

We've got two different species of ant here.

I'm watching a battle unfold right in front of me.

There's obviously a bit of cow poo,

which has given this island of dry land,

and you've got fire ants versus this other species.

And they are four, five, six times bigger than them.

But it's all about numbers here.

And obviously fire ants are notorious

for having that really painful, painful bite.

And they are taking down these ants one by one.

'But even when there's no cow poo island to fight over,

the fire ants have a solution.

They turn themselves into a living raft

and weave themselves together like a waterproof fabric.'

Creating these rafts is such a vital part of their survival

in these flooded areas.

By themselves, they would die within an instant,

but in a colony, they are actually able to float.

And that gives them the ability to survive and stick together,

and to protect their larvae and their eggs

that they had to basically get out of the water as fast as they can.

'Fire ants can live like this, on a raft on water, for several weeks.

But today...'

Oh, my God, there's ants all over me!

Oh, geez. They found safety in my boots.

'..they choose the easy option.'

Oh, oh. Don't head in there, mate. That is not a safe area.

(YELPS, CHUCKLES)

But it makes sense if you're an ant,

you have a colony, you've established a colony.

You need to be able to... Oh, crumbs!

(CHUCKLES)

Oh, that is a proper sting and a half.

These fire ants have a really fierce bite,

and... they also squirt...

(GROANS)

They also squirt an acidic kind of substance

out of their abdomen into the bite.

'The venom comes out through the stinger on their abdomen,

and is incredibly painful.'

Just to add a bit of a pow.

Ooh, yeah. That's right on my skin, mate.

Yeah, I've got... ants in my socks!

Come on, mate, get out.

Oh!

'The ants finally vacate my boots,

and it really is time to head back.

But when we arrive, there's some news.

While we were away,

one of the guides spotted an intruder close to camp.'

(GROWLS)

'This big male is the jaguar who ripped off Badalo's collar.

Cascalho is back.

And he appears to be taking out the competition one by one.

Badalo and Acerola were in a coalition together,

sharing territory and even sharing mating rights.

Last time I saw Acerola, he was looking strong,

and had the approval of female Ferinha.

But it looks like Cascalho has targeted him, too.'

BEA: This very experienced and big male,

he's arrived, and he's been taking the place of Acerola.

And we have been seeing Acerola full of scars

and new scratches in his face.

And this new male is in the same territory

that he was occupying, that Acerola was occupying.

Probably he's trying to make his way to be the most dominant.

'If Badalo and Acerola can't hold on to the top spot,

even as a duo, everything could be about to change.

Suddenly, Badalo hiding out and being so far north makes sense.

Could he be abandoning his territory and finally dispersing?

And there's also been reports that rival male Cascalho

has been spotted mating with females all around the reserve.

All signs that, maybe, Cascalho is on the up...

..and Badalo is on the way out.'

(BIRD CALLS)

Let's go, team.

'The next day, the Internet is still down.'

Off we go, Pedrini.

BOTH: Fingers crossed. LIZZIE: Let's go.

'With only four days until we head home,

I'm starting to worry we might never get my tag back.

But I can't just sit around waiting,

so we head out to find any jaguars we can.

I keep my eyes peeled for any scat, tree scratches or tracks

that could tell me a jaguar is nearby.'

You can see it here.

MARIO NELSON: Yeah. There's a big one.

It is fresh.

'It's frustrating,

but it does mean that when a call comes over the radio...'

RICHARD: 'She's full collared.'

'..we are nearby to take it.

Aurora, the only collared cat I haven't seen,

has been spotted.'

'Definitely worth getting over here. She's absolutely stunning.'

'She's been monitored for three and a half years,

and is habituated.

But her collar data shows that she usually avoids open areas

and stays in thick bush.

So we haven't really been able to meet her yet.'

(BIRDSONG)

(RADIO STATIC BUZZING)

Aurora will definitely know that we're here.

(WHISPERS) We're literally listening out for the smallest sound -

of cracks, of twigs,

and any movement as they move through the bush.

PEDRO: We're going to move to try to triangulate.Yep.

Change position and see how the signal will come,

and then by changing position and receiving the signal,

see exactly where she could be. Directional.Yeah.

(GASPS) Here! Here, here, here!

Did you see? Yes!

That's Aurora. I can see. That's Aurora.

Amazing!

That's the cub! That's the male cub.

His name is Apolo. Apolo?

Apolo, yes.

'Aurora's mum is Isa,

who I met for the first time last week.

She's Fera's sister,

and they were the first rewilded jaguars in the world.'

She's walking that way.

'They were rehabilitated by Oncafari.

So without this project, Aurora wouldn't exist.'

She was born just because we rewilded her mother.Wow.

And to see her and her cub... Yeah.

..that's the proof of success in rewilding jaguars in the world.

So seeing her with a cub,

it's history for jaguars in the whole Americas.Yeah!

'Aurora, and all the other cubs Isa and Fera have produced,

have been so important for the project

in protecting the survival of this near-threatened species.

And for Bea Lopes,

Aurora holds a special place in her heart.

BEA: When I started working here, Aurora was this shy girl.

She was so reserved.

But we know that, well, she was raising her baby,

she had to be like this, so we weren't pushing her.

And there was this one time that we were tracking her,

going after her, and we saw her, and she was calling the baby.

It's like, she was telling him not to be afraid.

It was like, "Oh, my God, we're going to see the baby

for the first time, we're going to see the baby."

And then he came.

Then I was crying.

Seeing this sparkled something inside of me.

'Every time a new cub is born,

it's a huge success for the Oncafari team

and their fight to conserve these beautiful cats.

It's amazing to see this cub because she's quite shy, as we see.

Even though she's relaxed, she's... shy.

And her cub, he's shy, too, so it's good to habituate him.Mm-hm.

And it's good to watch him, cos it's not very often

that we see him with her.

'With all the struggles of trying to find Badalo,

it's great to have got to meet a jaguar

I never thought I'd get to see.'

(It's amazing.) (LIZZIE CHUCKLES)

'Let's hope our luck is changing,

and tomorrow, we'll be back online and can find that tag.'

(BIRDS SQUAWK)

(BIRDSONG)

'There are just three days left of our trip.

We still have no Internet,

so no GPS data on Badalo and my tag.

And I'm starting to feel like we may never find it.'

Best to leave this laptop here.

'But every sighting adds knowledge

and insight into the lives of the jaguars here.

So while I can't see Badalo,

I can head out in the hope of spotting others.

And there's one in particular I have a soft spot for.

I've met her cub Samba,

seen her hunt,

and she is a favourite of Badalo's.

So I would love to see her one last time before I go.

But she currently doesn't have a collar.

Luckily, her territory is well known

as she shares it with the cattle ranchers.

So we head straight there.

Although slowly, as we get stuck in a cow jam.'

(COWS MOO)

We're in a sea of cows. MARIO NELSON: Yeah, I know.

Here we go. Mario Nelson has spoken. Away! Whoa.

(GRUNTS)

See, when you've had a career of being a cowboy,

you know how to move 300 cows. (LAUGHS)

Whoa!

Stop. Look!

Jaguar. BEA: Yes. Full of scratches.

What! Oh, my gosh!

You are a survivor! Yeah.

You can imagine that jaguar trying to cling on,

and to see a cow that survived the attack of a jaguar is just...

Oh, I don't know, kind of sends shivers down your spine a little bit.

That's kind of crazy. (CHUCKLES)

Jaguars would typically go for the smaller cows, right?

But to see that! Have you ever seen that before?No!

Wow. That's an impressive cow.

Yeah. (LAUGHS)

Don't mess with it. Don't mess with it. Yeah.

(COWS MOOING)

'The cattle here are cared for by cowboys

that share territory and space with the jaguar project.

The locals have found a delicate blend of farming and ecotourism

that helps everybody look after the land.

Despite this, a few times,

I have seen jaguars feeding on cow carcasses.

Sick or injured cows can make easy targets.

So it's refreshing to see a healthy cow coming out on top.

We clear the cow traffic jam...

..but with this much cattle around,

maybe there could be a jaguar nearby.'

We got a call on the radio that there's two new jaguars mating,

both of which are uncollared.

So I've no idea who we're about to meet. (CHUCKLES)

'I'm secretly hoping it will be Fera,

as we're right in the heart of her territory.'

(GASPS) Yes, yes! There.

There, there! Together, on the road.

I can't see who he is.

He looks like a very yellowish cat. Mm-hm.

Oh, he's a big boy. Oh, my gosh.

'As the male reveals his face, Mario Nelson IDs him.'

Cascalho. LIZZIE & BEA: Cascalho?!

'Once again, it's Cascalho.

All of a sudden, he's everywhere.'

Wow, look at the size difference.

'But who is the collarless female?

Fera. This is Fera. No... No way!

Fera's mating!

Fera!

Nice to see her again.

'It's yet more evidence

that perhaps my buddy Badalo is falling from grace.

Last time you saw Fera mating, she was mating with Badalo.

Yes. And now she's mating with Cascalho.

And you know that Badalo lost his collar

because he was fighting with Cascalho.Oh, yeah.

(BIRDSONG)

It makes a lot of sense.

They are overlaying their territory. Ooh...

We are seeing they are in the same territory,

we see them mating with the same females...

Mm-hm...and obviously, they are going to fight over it.

Obviously.And it feels like Cascalho won for now.

Because Badalo is a little bit further.

He is. He's gone off, hasn't he? To another part of the reserve.

Yeah. He has to fight for it now.

Yes. Mm.

(WHISPERING) OK, everyone stay still.

Ellie is filming on a long lens.

And if we move, we don't get the shots.

So you've got to stay super still.

'Before he heads off...'

(GASPS, WHISPERS) Look, he's scent marking.

'..Cascalho makes sure

all the other males around know that he's been here.'

So I think this might be the point where we lose them.

They've just gone into that bush.

What a way to finish her story.

And to think that Fera was the beginning of Oncafari.

She started it. She was the first rewilded jaguar.

She has created a dynasty here,

and she continues to be so prominent for here,

and the research team and the whole area.

And watching her now, uncollared,

and continuing that story is really something special.

'What an incredible final sighting with Fera.

It seems the power balance of the males is changing.

But this all helps with regulating the jaguar gene pool,

and it's just the natural cycle

the Oncafari team want to see for the success of the project.'

(INSECTS CHIRP)

'Richard has been staking out Aroeira,

our newly collared jaguar.

I've only seen her once in person,

and she was tucked away, hiding.

But now, she's moving with purpose.

There are plenty of native prey here in the Pantanal.

She'll feed on caiman, capybara,

and any other small mammal she can catch.'

(COW MOOS)

'But a cow is a huge meal that will last for days.

Ideal when every hunt means leaving her young cub alone and vulnerable.'

(COW MOOS)

'For the cows, moving in a herd means safety in numbers.

More eyes to spot any dangerous predator.

But Aroeira is an ambush expert.

She'll likely target the weaker cows.

They should be easier to bring down.

But hooves are surprisingly dangerous,

so she has to wait for the right moment to strike.

A cow kick to the head can kill a human,

and cause serious damage to a big cat.'

(COWS MOO) (AROEIRA GROWLS)

'And this cow isn't going down without a fight.

(COWS MOOING)

'It's tough to witness the cow in this scenario,

but it's part of the landscape out here,

where there is a delicate balance between the jaguars and the cowboys.

From the scratch marks we saw earlier...

..to this battle...

..the outcome isn't always what you'd expect.'

(COWS MOOING)

'Seeing Aroeira in hunt mode helps to build up a picture

of this newly collared cat.'

'The sun rises with two days left of our trip.

Still no Internet, still no GPS,

and still no way to find my tag.

I'm starting to accept that we might not get it back.

So, armed with the intel from Richard on Aroeira's location yesterday,

we're back on the trail for our newly collared jaguar.

Unsurprisingly, there was no cub with Aroeira

when she was hunting.

I'm hoping today, we might manage to film it.'

It's about 6:00 AM and we're heading out super early

with the goal to find Aroeira.

But the main thing for me is to try and learn more about this cub,

how old it is, you know, how well it's doing with Aroeira.

And to help build up this understanding of this cat

that we know very little about.

There she is.

'She's still keeping her cub hidden.

But while she's in sight,

this is a great chance to add to Aroeira's file.'

(WHISPERS) Taking photos is a really important part of the team's ID work,

building up a catalogue.

Even little things, like if they haven't seen her much,

we may not have photos of different rosette patterns.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

So always adding to the database of understanding about this cat.

For such a shy girl,

a female that is very much a forest cat,

now she's just pretty much accepting our presence.

It's pretty special.

'As if to prove that she really does trust us,

the prettiest cat in the Pantanal reveals her most prized possession.

This is the youngest cub I've seen in my whole time here.

Barely over two months old.

It's unbelievably cute.'

(WHISPERS) Wow, that's some great footage.

RICHARD: It's cool. It's pretty nice.

'I never dreamed a wild jaguar mum

would let us see her cub at such a vulnerable age.

It's a great sign for Aroeira's habituation.'

That's a confidence thing as well, to win her confidence,

that she's willing to show us the cub.Mm-hm.

'It's exciting to think that even though we're leaving,

the Oncafari team will continue to study

this beautiful mother-cub duo.'

We're starting to see the beginning of her life as a mother,

as a female jaguar.

Big questions around what she's like as a mum,

what her territory is, who she's mating with.

Fantastic.

And it's just been a real privilege to be here

at the beginning of that journey with her.

'It's almost time to go.

But I have unfinished business with Badalo.'

'After four days of power outages,

finally, the Internet is back on.

Which means a GPS data dump of Badalo's movements

downloaded straight to my laptop.

I'm really excited to finally have my hands

on these coordinates.'

From 4:00 AM, as expected,

he starts to find hammock forests to rest.

And at five o'clock, when that drop-off time is scheduled,

it says that that GPS point

is right in the middle of a small hammock forest,

which means that hopefully,

if the drop off did release of my tag, you know, at 5:00 AM,

then it's in the middle of a dry bit of land, which is great news.

'There's no time to waste.

The tag could have malfunctioned at any time

in the previous seven days, in which case,

it's anywhere in the 53,000 hectares.

But if the drop-off worked,

we'll find it at this GPS coordinate.'

We are back out and looking for that tag.

It seems like we're heading into a huge storm,

but more importantly, we're going as fast as we can

to that exact GPS coordinate.

Hopefully where that tag has dropped off.

My nerves, my excitement is all kind of building.

Everything is crossed that it is in that point.

Basically laughing and crying at the same time.

(LAUGHS)

Fifty metres...

Forty metres...

Thirty metres...

(INSECTS CHIRP)

Just make lots of noise, or...?

BEA: Yeah. OK. (CLAPS)

No jags. This is OK?

No jaguar. OK, great.

The clapping that we're doing is just to basically make sure it's safe.

There's no jaguar around. Seems good to go.

Got the A-OK from the team. Let's go find this tag.

Right.

Here we go.

(INSECTS CHIRP)

(BIRDSONG)

Eleven metres, this way.

Guys!

(LIZZIE CHEERING)

Look at the state of it!

But there it is, the whole thing.

Oh, my God, look at the VHF! Yes!

I'm not sure that would have even worked!

(GASPS)

Guys, we did it!

(ALL CHEER)

OK, back to the car? Oh, yes, definitely.

OK. This is insane! This is nuts.

You know, the next challenge is to see if it works still.

(LAUGHS)

'I'm buzzing that we managed to find it.

Although it does look a bit worse for wear.'

I'm going to leave the tag in the housing until we get back maybe?

Look, I mean, this is, like, on its last legs.

I just can't wait to open it and actually see what happens next.

This is huge.

I almost can't believe it!

(CHUCKLES) Look at the state of it as well.

That VHF is dead.

That would never have worked. So we're lucky.

We're really lucky with the GPS, with the team here.

(LILI SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Yes, please. Yeah.

Oh, here we go, here we go.

'Back at base, the word is out, and almost everyone is here

to see if the delicate electronics survived.'

Looks dry.

No-one will tell that this was hanging

on a jaguar's neck for one week.

Badalo as well. Badalo's neck.

I am seeing if there's any data on this card

and there's a real possibility that maybe there isn't.

So we'll see.

Oh, no.

Yeah. There's no data on here. Hm.

Oh, my God!

The fact it's taking one minute

makes me think there's something on it.

(COMPUTER CHIMES) (GASPS)

I cannot... I can't... This is nuts.

We have hours of data. Days of data.

(GASPS)

Five, six, seven days of data.

I cannot believe this!

We test deploy one of these tags on a wild jaguar,

on arguably one of the most dominant males here.

We found the tag. The VHF was broken.

We experienced floods, power outages.

We had no idea what was going to happen.

And, somehow, I've got a week's worth of data.

Over the next few days, I'll be looking at this data

to try and start to make sense of it.

I'll start to be able to identify patterns.

When that jaguar is asleep, lying down, hunting, walking,

potentially, you know, vocalising.

I mean, just look at it.

This is huge. This is why...

I want to do science.

I'm so chuffed, and I cannot wait to tell the team,

cos I know they're gonna be so chuffed, too.

'I'll be analysing this accelerometer data for weeks,

to find out more about jaguar behaviour.

But, even after studying it for 24 hours,

it's already telling me what Badalo gets up to when he's out of sight.'

Alright. Going to put it here.

Yeah. We want to see it!

So I've looked at some of the data. It looks good.

There's lots that you can start to extract

from what he was up to over that week.

You can see walking, running, how long he's sleeping for,

when he's attempting to hunt, I think.

There's just kind of this very basic picture being built up

of what he got up to over the whole week,

which is really cool.

'The data is showing me that Badalo loves to rest

for over 12 and a half hours a day.

But he switches sides every 10 to 15 minutes,

probably to keep cool.

We can see the moment he recovered from sedation after collaring.

And the tag even recorded the conflict

with Acerola in the bushes.

It picked up Badalo's high-energy roaring,

and showed us what we couldn't see.'

(MOUTHING) You can feel it!

'That in the fight that lasted 40 minutes,

Badalo and Acerola only came into contact a few times.'

I think that fight was much more like a display.

You know? Like, I bet that they display a lot.

Like, "I'm bigger than you, I'm tougher than you."

But they didn't want to really, really injure themselves, I think.

The actual moments of impact with one another were minimal.

It's like a few seconds to ten seconds.

So cool. Congrats. No, well, team effort.

Really, congratulations, cos this is pioneering I think,

with jaguars, right? It is, yeah.

I don't know any tri-acceleration studies on jags,

but... I think making this happen has been a great starting point,

and then we can hopefully go forward and continue with this tech.

'Just this week's worth of Badalo's data

is already helping us quantify jaguar behaviour

in more forensic detail than ever before.

And now, I hope to use the data

to answer more key questions about jaguar behaviour.

But this is just the beginning.

Oncafari and the Swansea University team behind the technology

are as excited as I am

about the possibility of tagging more jaguars in the future.

To gain an even deeper understanding of the constantly unfolding drama

that we've witnessed every day.

It could explain why certain males are fighting for dominance.

We could measure the impact on females during mating...

..or even find data that shows why some mothers lose their cubs.

As for Badalo himself, will he be back?

Or has he been ousted, and is on his way to find a new territory?'

(BIRDSONG)

Coming here as a scientist

and the opportunity to bring perhaps new tech

in collaboration with the Oncafari team here is fantastic.

But I can't help but get swept up in getting to know these individuals.

And, you know, they all are so different.

They have their own presence, their own characters.

The truth is, you can't compare this place to anywhere else on the planet.

Some of the brilliant conservation work that they're doing here,

you get really wrapped up in that, and it's extraordinary.

It's not like anything I've seen anywhere before.

This is a perfect example

of how habitats between humans and wildlife does overlap.

But there are solutions, and there are ways to get around that,

and there are ways to live sustainably,

and still support iconic species like jaguars.

And as a biologist,

it's really kind of made me feel very humble

and brought me back down to earth and actually think,

well, there's so much more to learn.

(GROWLING)

'What's changed now is that I want to know

everything there is to know about that individual.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really sad to be leaving here.

But I cannot wait to see what happens next

in the stories of these jaguars.'

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