18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Primeval

Pantanal, Brazil. Ever since I first visited the Pantanal two years ago, I have been dreaming of finding a jaguar in the beautiful and eerie morning mist. During my most recent trip there, we left camp every day at five in the morning and headed straight to Corixo Negro, a small river off the Cuiaba river where morning mist is usually very dense, looking for jaguars. Halfway through the trip, I got my wish. We had been searching the riverbanks for around 15 minutes on a particularly foggy day when Vanderlei, our boat driver, spotted a large male walking by the river. We followed him for a few minutes until he stopped and disappeared in the dense vegetation next to a beautiful fallen tree.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 09.2018
Date Uploaded: 11.2020
Photo Location: Brazil
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
Copyright: © Michel Zoghzoghi