Mexico’s jaguar population surges 30% as communities and scientists join forces
Mexico’s wild jaguar population has grown by roughly 30%, with a 2025 census confirming 5,326 individual animals across 15 states — the largest mammal census ever conducted in the country. Researchers deployed nearly 1,000 camera traps over 90 days, using each jaguar’s unique rosette pattern to avoid double-counting. The recovery reflects coordinated work between scientists, government agencies, and Indigenous and rural communities whose land stewardship proved essential to the effort. It demonstrates that large predator populations can rebound within years when conservation is genuinely community-rooted.
