Nigel Marven travels to Brazil in pursuit of the
amazing jaguar in this action-packed six-part

series. Jaguar Adventure follows Nigel to the
Pantanal, the world’s biggest wetland and home to
the planet’s largest population of jaguars – the least
known of the big cats. In this episode, Nigel and the
team finally achieve the footage they have been
seeking, with three jaguar encounters in 24 hours.
Nigel Marven’s latest quest has brought him to the
swampland of the Pantanal in Brazil. Standing
between the Amazon rainforest and the
grasslands of the savannah, the Pantanal is home
to a stunning diversity of wildlife, including
armadillos, giant otters, iguanas and anteaters.
In just four weeks, Nigel hopes to get to know
the vast array of wildlife on offer and locate one
beautiful but hard-to-find mammal. Comparatively
little is known about this member of the big cat
family, because jaguars are notoriously difficult to film. With their brilliantly effective camouflage, jaguars blend perfectly into the foliage. Moreover, as Nigel discovers later in the series, they have become a sworn enemy of the ranchers to the south. Can Nigel realise his childhood dream of meeting jaguars in the wild?
Over the first two weeks of his adventure, Nigel has had “a ball of a time” with the wildlife of the Pantanal. He has been up to his neck in swamps infested with giant anacondas; he has wrestled caiman; and he has had an encounter with a beautiful snake that almost cost him his hand.
However, the jaguar has remained typically elusive, with only cameraman Steve lucky enough to have seen one of the animals. Now in the third week of their trip, Nigel and the team receive a radio tip-off that a jaguar has been spotted on a nearby riverbank.
After a high-speed race downriver, Nigel arrives at the scene and sees his first specimen sitting amongst the trees, staring nonchalantly at the visitors. “My first ever jaguar,” he breathlessly enthuses. “What a magnificent animal!” After sitting for some time on the bank, the huge cat wanders deeper into the forest and begins to emit a deep, reverberating growl – possibly denoting the presence of another cat nearby. “It really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” says Nigel of the noise.
Soon after this first meeting, the team hears that a second jaguar has been seen just downriver – news that leads to another frantic charge through the water. They arrive at an exposed sand bank in time to see a large male prowling beside the river.
“Getting to see this jaguar is like winning the lottery twice in one day,” says Nigel. As the team looks on, the big cat strolls into the river to cool off, perfectly illustrating jaguars’ love of water.
“This has been an astounding encounter,” says Nigel. “I’m never going to forget it.”
As night falls and the team returns to camp, Nigel puts sleep on hold to explore some of the jungle creatures swarming around the tents. Lying flat on his belly, he inspects a huge marine toad that has come to the the camp to feast on the insects that are attracted to the light. These toads can grow up to 15cm high and are capable of eating mice. They also emit a lethal poison, but this does not stop Nigel giving the animal a little stroke.
In searching for the jaguar, known locally as the ‘cat that kills with one pounce’, Nigel and the crew have cruised mile after mile in incredible heat. “This certainly isn’t easy,” he says. But the
morning after his first ever encounter, Nigel is once again in the right place at the right time to see the king of the Pantanal – for the third time in less than 24 hours. On this occasion, another
male is sat on a grassy bank behind a resting water buffalo who seems unaware of the predator’s presence. The guide turns the boat’s engine off, allowing Nigel and the team to drift noiselessy towards the incredible scene. “This is the closest yet,” whispers Nigel. The fearsome animal could be in the boat within a couple of seconds, but attacks on humans are thankfully rare. “I can’t help thinking about the power of those jaws!” says Nigel. “What a privilege this is.”