Hidden cameras reveal jaguars and other elusive wildlife thriving in ecuador’s yasuní national park

Deep in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, some of the world’s most magnificent creatures remain largely invisible to human visitors. Yasuní National Park, one of Earth’s most biodiverse regions, harbors jaguars, lowland tapirs, and deer that tourists rarely glimpse despite sharing the same jungle paths. For most visitors, muddy tracks are the only proof these iconic mammals exist in the dense vegetation around them.

Now, the Indigenous Kichwa community at Sani Lodge is using camera traps to document the secret lives of their wild neighbors. The innovative project reveals that animals are much closer than visitors realize – watching and listening from the shadows as humans pass by. “The footage shows that the animals are watching and listening to us,” explains Javier Hualinga, a naturalist guide who can typically spot monkeys 130 feet up in the canopy but admits finding wildcats is “like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

The 76,000-acre community-run ecotourism venture, operating since 2002, serves a dual purpose beyond thrilling guests with rare wildlife footage. Sani Lodge acts as a crucial buffer against oil exploitation and agricultural expansion that threaten the Amazon. By showcasing the incredible biodiversity that eco-tourists help protect through their visits, the camera trap project strengthens the economic case for conservation over extraction. The captured images of curious pumas investigating cameras and other elusive species provide tangible proof that responsible tourism can coexist with wildlife preservation in one of the planet’s most precious ecosystems.