Discover 5 Under-The-Radar Destinations For Tigers, Pumas, Jaguars And Leopards

Ecotourism was hit hard by the Covid pandemic, and both wildlife and local communities have suffered from the impact. As ecotourism returns, Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, wants to highlight five destinations worldwide where travelers are almost guaranteed to encounter jaguars, leopards, pumas, tigers and other big cats in the wild — while helping both the animals and local residents bounce back from the economic impact of the pandemic. These lesser-known destinations range from jaguars in Colombia’s Llanos region to leopards in South Africa’s Sabi Sands, to pumas in Patagonia.

Jaguars in Brazil’s Pantanal

Panthera’s Pantanal Jaguar Project in Brazil is a shining model for big cat conservation, demonstrating how scientists can mitigate conflict between humans and wild predators by implementing eco-tourism, livestock vaccinations, and other initiatives benefiting local communities. The world’s largest tropical wetland, the Pantanal is home to the highest concentration of jaguars on earth, and visitors might catch sight of the big cats swimming the Cuiaba River, hunting prey or even venturing out with cubs.

Jaguars in Colombia’s Llanos

Modeled after their community-based approach in the Pantanal, Panthera’s work in Colombia’s Llanos, a vast tropical grassland plain east of the Andes, is on track to replicate its success. Thanks to Panthera’s two-pronged efforts — helping ranchers protect livestock from jaguars without killing them, and training communities to be jaguar tour guides — visitors are twenty times more likely to see a jaguar now than in 2016, and tourism has doubled in a region still recovering from Colombia’s turbulent past of drug trafficking and civil war.

Leopards in South Africa’s Sabi Sands

Sabi Sands Game Reserve boasts the highest concentration of big game in South Africa and also one of the most habituated, meaning tourists enjoy frequent and close wildlife encounters. Famous for its amazing leopard sightings, the reserve is helping Panthera with one of the most comprehensive long-term leopard studies ever undertaken. Working with guides from the reserve’s photo-tourism lodges, the Sabi Sands Leopard Project has monitored more than 600 leopards over the last 35 years — a unique dataset that provides important insight into the lives of leopards, as well as an essential baseline that can inform future conservation strategies.

Pumas in Patagonia

Nicknamed “the end of the world,” Patagonia — the southern parts of Chile and Argentina — offers an opportunity to see pumas against a backdrop of granite spires, sweeping vistas, glaciers, and pampas. Ecotourism is relatively new to the region, where pumas and ranchers have long been in conflict. Over the last few years, Panthera’s Puma Program has been working with tourist ranches to create an ethical standard for puma tourism. The relationship is mutually beneficial: in return for allowing Panthera to set the many camera traps needed to monitor puma populations, Panthera shares data that helps landowners plan puma-sighting tours.

Tigers in Ranthambore National Park

Located in northern India, Ranthambore National Park is reputed to have the least shy tigers in the nation; in fact, Panthera doesn’t run a conservation program within the park because its thriving wild tiger population doesn’t require any intervention. But Alvis Lazarus, a Panthera Partner Wildlife Photographer who lives and works in India, can testify that it’s one of the best places in the world to photograph tigers; in one trip, he says, a visitor can capture the animals against a surprisingly diverse range backdrops, from mountains to lakes, to grassy plains.