Returning Home: Xamã Becomes the First Male Jaguar Released Back Into The Wild

In 2022, in the Sinop region of Brazil, Xamã was separated from his mother when fleeing from a large forest fire. Alone, scared, and in a state of dehydration and malnutrition, Xamã was rescued and received nutritional replacement to help him regain his strength.

His care team, following meticulous protocol to avoid imprinting, found that Xamã retained his wild instincts (such as skittish behavior toward humans). Xamã was transferred to a rehabilitation facility with the intention of returning him back to the wild. 

After more than two years developing critical survival skills in an enclosure in the Amazon to prepare him, Xamã was released on October 21, 2024—marking him as the first male jaguar to be rehabilitated in Brazil and freed into his natural habitat!

World Animal Protection has been a sponsor and consultant for Xamã’s rehabilitation and release since he was found as a cub, monitoring his recovery phase locally in collaboration with Ecotono Institute (IEco) and Onçafari, a Brazilian entity specializing in the reintroduction of felines, who made this reintroduction possible, managing Xamã until his release and subsequently will be monitoring him in the wild to ensure his success.  

We’re so proud to have been able to contribute to Xamã’s rehabilitation, and are grateful for the Hovet/Wild Animal Care Sector/UFMT (with the accompaniment of the Secretary of State for the Environment of Mato Grosso), the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources, and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) (through the National Center for Research and Conservation of Carnivorous Mammals) for their work on this critical rescue and release as well.

Brazil is considered a key country for jaguar conservation, considering that it contains the largest number of the species in the entire world. The Amazon—being the most extensive area of adequate and unfragmented habitat for jaguars—is the most important territory for the long-term conservation of this species.

World Animal Protection Brazil, in honor of Xamã’s release, will be unveiling a sand sculpture on International Jaguar Day (November 29), depicting four jaguar paws, at one of Brazil’s most iconic beaches, Copacabana, highlighting the work World Animal Protection does to help animals around the world like Xamã.  

You can help support the recovery and protection of animals like Xamã by joining the Wild Side. With your help, we can ensure that all wild animals maintain their right to live a wild life.

Hero image credit: Onçafari