The Pantanal of Brazil is truly one of the world’s most treasured natural wonders, and it’s home to this stunning animal known as a jaguar. Tanya and I have been visiting this UNESCO World Heritage Site for almost ten years. It’s the only place you can predictably see jaguars and know you will have great opportunities to photograph them.
This large male was hunting for caiman along the river’s edge on the morning I captured this image. Male jaguars can reach the size of a female African lion; caiman and capybara are their main prey. In all my years of documenting these beautiful cats, only one other time have I seen them rest on a tree. Luck was on our side this past July when this male made his way over to the fallen tree and laid majestically in a beam of light.