The big cats are rarely seen at high elevations, so the sighting suggests that efforts to protect a wildlife corridor in the region are working

April 23, 2026 11:37 a.m.

A camera set up by the conservation organization Panthera captured a healthy male jaguar in the Sierra del Merendón mountain range. Panthera-Honduras

A jaguar has been recorded roaming through the Sierra del Merendón mountain range in Honduras for the first time in a decade, offering hope for the animal’s conservation and showing that protected wildlife corridors are working.

The young male—dubbed a “cloud jaguar” because it was at a high elevation—was spotted on February 6 in a forest at an altitude of about 7,200 feet, reports CNN ’s Tom Page.

“Jaguar sightings at this elevation are very rare,” says Allison Devlin , director of the jaguar program at Panthera, the wild cat conservation organization that recorded the feline, in a statement to People .…