Throng

why did you focus on jaguars for this series?
“I’ve seen all of the other big cats. I’d never seen a
jaguar. And they’re always the mainstay of every
sort of South American adventure book that you
read when you’re a kid. I really wanted to see
jaguars in the wild. They’re the ultimate predators.
They’ve got a massive skull and really big canine
teeth – they’re the only big cat that pierces the
skull of their prey. And the beautiful fur – they’ve
got these rosettes of black with little black spots in
the middle. They’re just beautiful, beautiful
animals. Nothing can beat staring a wild big cat in
the eyes. The way those eyes bore into you!”
jaguars are notoriously hard to find in the wild –
how did you track them down?
“We worked with a place called the Jaguar
Research Centre. It’s the only place in the world
where – if you go for certain days – a sighting of a
jaguar is pretty much guaranteed. They’ve got a
network of boats and radio guides communicating
with each other about how to find them.”
how is the jaguar’s habitat under threat?
“There’s a lot of clearing of the forest. You don’t
want to lose any more of it, but enough remains
for the moment. The main problem is the killing of
the jaguars by ranchers. As some ranchers lose
two cows a day from jaguars, you can’t really
blame the farmers. Really the solution is to make
the jaguars worth more alive than dead, and ecotourism
is probably the answer.”
what can be done to save these animals?
“It’s always a problem – the conflict between
people and big predators. Solutions have to be
found where the farmers don’t lose their livelihood
and the cats are saved. Tourism is the best way of
doing that. Leopards and lions were virtually shot
out [of existence] in South Africa until it was
realised that people would pay to see them. And
that’s a way of saving them.”
tell us a bit about the pantanal
“It’s the largest wetland on Earth. It’s 20 times larger
than the Everglades and twice the size of Great
Britain. Eighty per cent of it is flooded for six months
of the year which is why it hasn’t been spoilt too
much. There’s a wildlife bonanza there. There are
ten million caimans, 600,000 capybara, hundreds
of jaguars, 650 species of birds, yellow anacondas,
macaws. It’s an extremely rich habitat.”
were there any hair-raising experiences during
the making of this series?
“Probably jumping in the river with a giant otter. A
giant otter is the same length as I’m tall, so 1.9m
or so. A group of them have been known to kill a
five-foot crocodile that was attacking them. But I
didn’t jump in with a family – I just jumped in with a
single otter on its own. It was very curious about
me and I don’t know what I’d have done if it had
gone under the water and bitten me.”
what other interesting animals did you see?
“My favourite was the giant anteater. When we
came across a female it was only when we got
close that we realised there was a baby being
carried on its mother’s back. Giant anteaters are
remarkable animals – with their long snouts and
big bushy tails. All of the encounters were very
exciting, but the giant anteaters – you can’t fail to
enjoy being with them!”
what was the most surprising thing about
making the series?
“I think our luck with the jaguars. To get footage of
a jaguar walking along a beach then going to
bathe in the river. Jaguars mating. Five different
jaguars in four days. That was the most surprising
thing – that we managed to achieve such great
footage of jaguars.”
what other challenges are on the horizon?
“I’m running the London Marathon for the Whale
and Dolphin Conservation Society. I started my
training in October.”