Another Jaguar Steps into the Wild at El Impenetrable

By: Megan "Turtle" Southern

October 17, 2025

Acaí at El Impenetrable – Photo courtesy Rewilding Argentina

In March, a two-year-old wild female jaguar born in the Iberá wetlands of northern Argentina was captured and translocated to El Impenetrable National Park, a distance of 375 miles. Her name is Acaí; she arrived at El Impenetrable the same day we did, and she spent the last six months living in a pre-release enclosure, adapting to this new environment and continuing to hunt live prey. She was closely monitored as the team prepared for her release.

Earlier this month, the heavy guillotine-style door to her enclosure was opened, and Acaí took her first steps into the wild dry forest. She is the fifth female released at El Impenetrable and the second translocation of a wild jaguar between two national parks in Argentina. To get a feel for what this experience was like, you can read about the first such translocation/release in A Hundred Pawprints on the Road to Wildness.

Acaí’s presence at El Impenetrable is yet another milestone in the recovery of this species. She joins a quartet of females previously released (including two born in captivity and one rescued from Paraguay), three wild males known to be roaming this area, and a wild-born cub spotted this summer – the first jaguar cub recorded in the Argentina Chaco in decades. These cats are reviving the jaguar population in the Chaco, a population that was dwindling before the collaborative efforts of Rewilding Argentina, the National Parks Administration, and the Chaco Province began to bring females back to this ecosystem.

With each jaguar that lives freely comes an exciting moment to pause and recognize a conservation achievement made by Rewilding Argentina and meant to inspire us all. With each jaguar, there is more hope for this population and for future cubs, there is a step toward ecological balance, a lifeline for increased genetic diversity, and there is more breadth of experience working with local communities to support the return of this apex predator.

Jaguars are not the only ones to be released at El Impenetrable. There are already red-footed tortoises lumbering around, and Rewilding Argentina is working to reintroduce marsh deer, guanaco, and giant otters, the missing species.

Photo and video courtesy Rewilding Argentina, more on Acaí’s release here.

Megan "Turtle" Southern

Before joining The Rewilding Institute, Turtle was the coordinator of the Northern Jaguar Project, where she provided programmatic, fundraising, and administrative leadership. While with NJP, she helped to establish and grow the 56,000-acre Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, Mexico, organized scientific research projects and conservation education among youth, and worked extensively with ranchers to promote coexistence with felines and other wildlife.