Overview
- The young male jaguar Anguja (about two to two-and-a-half years old) was struck and killed by a Volkswagen Amarok on Ruta Provincial 6 between Santa Rosa and Mburucuyá, with the carcass found in the first hours of Monday.
- The animal was born in the Iberá reintroduction program and was the offspring of Saso and Coli, two jaguars released in 2021 as part of Fundación Rewilding Argentina’s recovery effort.
- Fiscal Daniel Lezcano ordered the body moved to the Centro de Conservación Aguará for a necropsy and opened judicial proceedings to determine the circumstances and driver responsibility under National Law 22.421.
- Rewilding Argentina and officials said Anguja did not wear a satellite collar and was tracked only by footprints, sightings and local reports, highlighting a monitoring gap in following free-ranging reintroduced animals.
- Conservation groups and authorities warn that night driving, speed and road crossings put wide-ranging native fauna at risk and say the case underscores the need for targeted road measures such as engineered crossings, better signage and speed enforcement.