In May 2026, two tourists from Carmen de Patagones (Buenos Aires) managed to film the young jaguar Ombú for more than two minutes at Laguna Iberá, within the town of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini in Corrientes.
The footage was officially confirmed by the municipality’s Directorate of Tourism and shared on social media as a historic event.
The video shows the calm feline observing its surroundings, yawning, and showing its fangs before venturing back into the native forest.
The protagonist: Ombú
Ombú is a young male, one and a half years old, born in the wild on Isla San Alonso in the Iberá Wetlands. He is the offspring of Porá and Colí, making him part of the second generation of jaguars born in the wild following the reintroduction program by the Rewilding Argentina Foundation.
His relaxed behavior in front of tourists reflects the peaceful nature of the species and symbolizes the success of the repopulation process in Iberá.
A symbol of conservation
The sighting of Ombú is significant for several reasons:
- Unique audiovisual record: it is the first time tourists have managed to film a jaguar in a publicly accessible area within the Iberá National Park.
- Population growth: Corrientes is the only Argentine province where the jaguar population is increasing in number and distribution. Currently, there are about 50 specimens in the wild in Iberá.
- Natural dispersion process: according to the Jaguar Network, Ombú is going through the stage where young jaguars move out of the territory where they were born, a key behavior for the species’ expansion.
The historical context
For more than half a century, the jaguar was absent from Corrientes due to hunting. The reintroduction initiated by Rewilding Argentina allowed the great feline to be recovered in this ecosystem, considered one of the most important wetlands in the country.
The sighting of Ombú reinforces the idea that conservation can reverse processes of local extinction and return emblematic species that fulfill essential ecological roles to the environments.
Touristic and community impact
The encounter occurred near Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, the area with the highest tourist influx in Iberá. The possibility of observing a jaguar in the wild enhances the destination’s appeal and strengthens the relationship between conservation and local development.
The Directorate of Tourism highlighted that the sighting was conducted cautiously and from a distance, respecting safety norms and coexistence with wildlife.
The recording of Ombú is much more than a viral video: it is a milestone for jaguar conservation in Argentina. It represents the hope that the species, considered endangered, can reclaim its place in the country’s ecosystems.
“The jaguar is not lost, but it needs us to act together,” specialists point out, emphasizing that each sighting is also a call to continue efforts for protection and coexistence.
