Jaguars roam throughout a massive territory, as far south as Argentina and north all the way to Mexico—and wandering males have recently been sighted in Arizona. But despite being so widespread, DNA analysis shows that the big cats are remarkably similar throughout their range, which has only been appreciated in the past few decades.

Researcher Alan Rabinowitz was one of the first to argue that this connectivity is vital, and the key to saving the animals. Prior to the idea of connectivity, the conventional thinking “was of scientists glued to a site or a region,” says Howard Quigley, Rabinowitz’s long-time friend and colleague. “Alan saw this as small thinking.”

Rabinowitz, a pioneering jaguar researcher, traveled throughout this area beginning in