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Argentina Confirms Second Wild-Born Jaguar in Chaco as Federal Probe Examines Missing Cubs in Misiones

Camera-trap evidence validates progress from the El Impenetrable reintroduction program, with prosecutors separately reviewing a Misiones relocation where two juveniles vanished.

Overview

  • Researchers confirmed a second wild-born cub in Parque Nacional El Impenetrable by comparing camera-trap images that showed Nalá’s juvenile has an intact tail, distinguishing it from an earlier cub missing part of its tail.
  • Fundación Rewilding Argentina indicates the new birth likely involves the female Keraná, released in March 2024 after rescue in Paraguay, underscoring reproduction where no females with cubs had been confirmed since 1990.
  • The federal environmental crimes unit (Ufima) opened a case to investigate the disappearance of two cubs following an October 16, 2025 capture and relocation overseen by Misiones’ Ecology Ministry.
  • In that operation, the mother, Pará, and two roughly two-month-old cubs were released in Parque Provincial Esmeralda; the adult has since been detected, but the juveniles have not appeared in camera traps or field surveys.
  • Conservation organizations criticized the Misiones relocation as risky and improvised, some suspect the cubs died, and investigators are seeking technical reports on protocols and site choice after Iberá in Corrientes was proposed as an alternative.