TRACKING THE JAGUAR

摘要

These tracks are huge," shouted DrEduardo Carrillo, pointing ecstatically at a set of large paw prints in the soil. I was equally excited - they were heading straight for one of my camera-traps! For the first time since I arrived in Costa Rica three months ago, I felt a glimmer ofhope that I might have captured a photo of Central America's most sought-after big cat, the jaguar.It was about time. Week after week, I had accompanied Eduardo on almost daily trips into the forest -1 had covered some 8ookm and lost about iokg in weight. But while my remote cameras had snapped plenty of wild animals, including other elusive felines such as pumas and ocelots, none of them had been both large and spotty.The tracks revealed that three jaguars - a big male and a female with a cub - had passed this way only a few hours earlier, and the male looked to have walked right in front of my remote camera. As I checked for images I reflected, breathlessly, that this moment could make or break my trip.