Wild South-of-the-Border Species Star in New Docu-Series

A jaguar steps into the dense understory of the Yucatán jungle. The camera lens zooms in and adjusts focus as the spotted cat approaches a deep pond and dips into the water. After a failed hunt the previous night, the arch-predator of the Mayan jungle is going fishing.

The jaguar was once prevalent in Mexico, narrator Juan Monsalvez explains, until the usual story of deforestation and habitat fragmentation posed grave threats throughout the big cats’ range. “But jaguars are survivors,” he says. “And they’ll eat what that can.”

In his new three-part series, Mexico Untamed, director and writer Craig Meade and his New Zealand–based crew deliver many such scenes, offering a surveying look at the state of wildlife in our neighboring country to the south. The first episode premiered on Nat Geo WILD last Friday, and the next two air today (Friday, September 21) and next Friday, September 28, respectively, at 10 P.M. Eastern/9 P.M. Central.

Each installment exposes viewers to the rainforested world of big cats and spider monkeys, the mesquite-spotted deserts along the Sierra Madre, and the rich marine life off Mexico’s nearly 6,000 miles of coast. As the narrator states, there are indeed “many Mexicos, not just one.” Much like the rest of the continent, Mexico hosts varied landscapes and ecosystems “where wonders can occur.”

Viewers get a sense of the most exotic among Mexican wildlife—transparent glass frogs, desert reptiles and tarantulas, sparring elephant seals, and humpback whales. But other scenes may remind American audiences of their own backyard ecosystems: the North American bison grazes the grasslands of Chihuahua in northern Mexico; the monarch butterfly rests on the southern terminus of its transcontinental migration; the common brown pelican dives for silver grunion off the shores of the Sea of Cortez. Mexico Untamed doesn’t discriminate between the exotic and the familiar, the rare and common species, or what may be seen only in Mexico and what connects the United States’ wild spaces and wildlife to Mexico’s.

This is a series that brings viewers back to the conventions of a nature documentary. Though at times that can mean sensational narratives paired with overly theatrical soundtracks (including perhaps a few too many mariachi ballads accompanying reptilian mating rituals), the strength of Mexico Untamed lies in its simplicity. Its patient cinematography showcases stunning landscapes and provides a straightforward reminder of the wild world that’s alive and changing and, in many cases, migratory.