A rare cloud jaguar has been spotted in for the first time in a decade, raising hopes for the big cat population in the Americas.
Earning its name for its high-altitude habitat in Central America's cloud forests, researchers spotted the large cat on camera traps earlier this year.
Images shared with CNN show a lone male ‘cloud jaguar’ at about 2,200 meters in the Honduran Sierra del Merendón mountain range this February.
Honduras’ cloud mountains are among the few areas protected since 1987, meaning they've avoided deforestation like other parts of the country.
Such environmental protections have potentially saved resident jaguars from habitat destruction and poaching.
“They didn’t know then, but now we know they were also protecting a very important habitat for jaguars,” said Franklin Castañeda, Honduras country director at wild cat conservation organization Panthera.
He added: “It seems we are seeing a recovery in large cats in general.”
Jaguars are protected in Honduras, but the big cat population is under severe threat, often due to habitat loss as up to 19% of the country’s tree cover has been cut down for farming.
The Honduran government has vowed to curb deforestation as part of its Zero Deforestation Plan 2029, and has dispatched 8,000 troops to stop illegal agricultural and logging practices.
Despite efforts, the country faces an uphill battle.
According to Human Rights Watch, protections are being impacted by corrupt land titling, as well as attacks on environmental rights defenders - including five murders and one disappearance in 2024.
Although immense challenges remain, there are small signs of hope in regard to the country’s big cat community.
It was in 2021, for example, that researchers first detected that pumas had returned to the mountain range after almost two decades, and ocelots, jaguarundis and margay have also been detected.
It’s thought that the lone male ‘cloud jaguar’ spotted earlier this year was likely travelling along the
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