Rewilding Jaguars from Argentina to Arizona

Sebastián Di Martino is the conservation director of Rewilding Argentina and one of the architects of their jaguar breeding and reintroduction program. In this video, he shares why it is important to bring back jaguars, how they did it in Argentina, and what opportunities he sees for jaguar recovery in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.

This presentation was given at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, Arizona, on April 27, 2025, to a standing-room crowd of more than 200. Every single person walked away energized and inspired. The event was co-sponsored by the Rewilding Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, Cuenca Los Ojos, and Northern Jaguar Project.

Jaguars are showing us what we need to do now, and in the future. And the next evolution of efforts to safeguard the northern jaguar population will be inspired by Rewilding Argentina. As Sebastián explains, “When we started, everything seemed impossible. But then you move forward, and it becomes real.”

May we listen to Sebastián, learn from him, and remember the excitement we all felt when El Jefe roamed the Sky Islands. …

From Argentina to Arizona, jaguars are clawing their way back. At these bookends of the species’ range, this elusive predator is critically endangered – wiped out in some places, barely hanging on in others. Yet despite habitat loss, poaching, and climate change, jaguar populations have the potential to rebound, offering hope that extinction isn’t the end of their story.

Rewilding Argentina has spearheaded one of the most ambitious wildlife recovery efforts in the world. In Iberá, where jaguars had been absent for 70 years, they have recovered a population from zero to 35 individuals in just four years. In the Gran Chaco, they have released three females in the last year at El Impenetrable to supplement a small number of wild males. Their success is a rallying cry for jaguar conservation across the Americas – including in the rugged borderlands of Arizona and Sonora, where pockets of these big cats still roam.

Watch the presentation on YouTube here.

Sebastián Di Martino in Tucson, Arizona on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Julia Errington)

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.