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Chris sits down with Brazilian conservation biologist Letícia Benavalli to talk about her work protecting jaguars in the Cerrado — one of the world's most biodiverse yet overlooked biomes. From growing up in São Paulo to founding the Pro Onça Institute, Letícia shares how a childhood fascination with nature led her to track some of the rarest cats on the planet, including melanistic (black) jaguars. She also opens up about the importance of community-led conservation, empowering women and young people in rural Brazil, and her ambition to create wildlife corridors connecting isolated jaguar populations across biomes.

Chapters

00:00 Tracking Melanistic Jaguars
04:43 From City Life to Conservation Biologist
07:10 The Cerrado: Saving Brazil's Biodiverse Savanna
14:47 Learnings from Oxford University & African Wild
22:53 Rare Black Jaguar Encounter in the Wild
27:07 Survival Story: Lost Alone in the Brazilian Jungle
36:38 Jaguar Hunting Threats & Landowner Conflicts
40:58 Pro Onça Institute: Conservation & Community Empowerment
47:02 Women Leadership in Ecotourism
1:00 Urban Jaguars in Brasília National Park
1:06 Rolex Explorers Club Grant & Future Goals
1:14 Call to Adventure: Climbing Brazil's Serra do Cipó

Guest Bio

Letícia Benavalli is a conservation biologist and founder of the Onça Institute (Instituto Onça), an NGO dedicated to jaguar conservation in Brazil's Cerrado and Atlantic Forest. She has worked across multiple Brazilian biomes — including the Pantanal, Caatinga, and Amazon — studying large carnivores and developing community-based conservation programmes. Letícia is a Rolex/Explorers Club grant recipient and a member of the IUCN's Wildlife Conservation and Protected Areas group. She presented her research at the Explorers Club in New York and is preparing a PhD focused on jaguar density, diet, and the genetics of melanistic jaguars in the Cerrado.

Key Topics Discussed

Growing up in São Paulo & finding conservation — How a city kid from Latin America's largest metropolis ended up dedicating her life to wildlife, sparked by a childhood visit to the zoo and a love of nature documentaries.
The Cerrado: Brazil's forgotten biome — Why this vast savanna is critically important for biodiversity but receives far less attention and protection than the Amazon or Pantanal.
Black jaguars and the Onça Institute — Letícia's face-to-face encounter with a wild melanistic jaguar, the rare genetics behind black colouration, and the founding mission of her NGO to connect isolated jaguar populations.
Community-led conservation & empowering women — Why conservation cannot succeed without involving local and rural communities, particularly women and young people, and how traditional knowledge strengthens scientific work.
The Rolex/Explorers Club grant & global ambitions — Winning the grant, presenti

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The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering