Borderlands Jaguar (2026) Movie Script
1
[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 killed
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.
[explosion]
[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] Fuck.
[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 killed 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 gun.
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 gun.
[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]
[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 killed
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.
[explosion]
[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] Fuck.
[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 killed 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 gun.
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 gun.
[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]