Seeing Signs As Rabinowitz hikes through the jungle, he


looks for signs of a jaguar. He spots a tuſt of black and white hair on the ground. T e hair is coarse and wiry, so he knows it came from a peccary, a wild pig. T e pig’s hair may be a sign that a jaguar is


near. Jaguars stalk herds of peccaries, looking for weak or slow ones. When a jaguar finds one alone, it leaps on its prey. T e peccary doesn’t stand a chance. T e jaguar’s powerful jaws crush the pig’s skull with one bite. Rabinowitz looks for more signs. Fresh,


deep scratch marks in a tree trunk tell him that a jaguar recently marked this place as its territory. He also finds jaguar fur caught in the tree bark. T en he spots a paw print. Rabinowitz bends down to touch it. “Wow,” he says, “that’s bigger than my hand.” Later that night, Rabinowitz hears a shriek.


T en he hears a deep grunt and a yowl. It’s two jaguars fighting. All these signs tell Rabinowitz that he’s on the right track.


Catching Cats Rabinowitz knows that jaguars are nearby. Yet


he still hasn’t seen one. So he and his team bait a cage with meat to trap one. When they check the cage later, they find


a snarling jaguar in it. T ey give the cat a tranquilizer shot to put it to sleep for a short time. Now, they can safely study the jaguar. T e team works quickly. T ey write notes


about the jaguar’s size, health, and gender. T ey take a blood sample. T en they strap a radio collar around its neck. T e collar will let the team track the jaguar’s movements. Soon, the groggy cat wakes. It slips back into


the jungle. Data from the collar beams back to a computer, showing where the cat goes.


6 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER


Mapping a Habitat Over time, the team catches and tracks more


jaguars. T ey map where the jaguars go. T ey also map where they’ve found paw prints and other signs of jaguars. Rabinowitz uses all this data to start piecing


together information about where jaguars live. He learns that a jaguar needs a lot of territory. A male’s territory can stretch 142 km2. He also learns that jaguars live throughout


the Americas, from Argentina to Mexico. Many of these cats live in isolated patches of jungle, surrounded by farms and towns.


These two jaguars fi ght. Usually, jaguars prefer to be alone.


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