�鶹�ƽ��

Having played the role of Cavman while studying at the University of Virginia, Henry Maillet knows the value of a good disguise.

The same person who’d head to class at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy dressed like any other student could later throw on a giant mustached head, muscular bodysuit and oversized boots before losing his mind at Wahoo sporting events.

“I love UVA,” Maillet said. “I’ve always been a big fan.”

It’s been 10 years since Maillet was a mascot, and he’s still finding enjoyment through concealment. Only now, it’s his camera – not himself – that’s hidden, and the setting can be even more chaotic than a sold-out John Paul Jones Arena.

In the jungles of South America, he spares no detail trying to stealthily photograph a lurking jaguar.

“I have to set up these studios in the bush with a motion sensor and everything,” Maillet said, “so when the animal goes in front of the camera, it takes a picture, even if I’m not there.

“It’s very complicated, but it’s one example of things I’ve learned to do to get imagery of important stories. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to do it. In fact, that makes it more important.”

Maillet is a newly minted “” who will soon begin a year of fieldwork along the Paraguay River. It’s a project he hopes will lead to the creation of protected corridors for native animals to move freely without the threat of real estate development.

The jaguar, a , is a – hence Maillet’s tireless efforts to capture its image.

“You need to save this large area of land,” Maillet said, “and there’s no better ambassador for that idea than a large mammal that needs that amount of space.”

From big cats to beautiful birds – like this macaw – Maillet seeks a range of animals on his wild expeditions. (Left photo by Henry Maillet; right photo by Sebastián Sorera)

While Maillet didn’t take a traditional path to this career – he only began seriously using a camera as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, shortly after graduating from UVA in 2016 – he’s a natural for the profession, said Nick Nichols, a decorated former National Geographic staff photographer and Maillet’s mentor.

Nichols, the National History Museum’s 2014 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, doesn’t give in to every industry hopeful who asks for advice. Maillet, however, was already an accomplished documentarian – his 2020 “Faces of the River” film – by the time he met Nichols at his residence in western Albemarle County.

“I could tell he wasn’t after this for the wrong reasons, which is often fame or glory or whatever you want to call it,” Nichols said. “I mean, he wants that, of course, but he’s attacking it from a conservation point of view, which I always did.”

One of Nichols’ grandest achievements, the documentation of the 2,000-mile “Megatransect” through untouched rainforests in Central Africa, helped convince Gabon’s government to create 13 national parks that still exist more than two decades later.

National Geographic later called it

That’s the kind of legacy Maillet is chasing.

“That project is hugely influential to me,” Maillet said, “because it showed what can happen when people see something they had never seen before. It showed the value of an ecosystem and a land.”

Maillet’s father, Pete, is a McIntire School of Commerce professor. Clues to Maillet’s future, however, may have come from his mother, a botanical illustrator, and his great-grandfather, an entomologist.

Maillet’s 2020 film, “Faces of the River,” chronicles his and a colleague’s six-month, 800-mile journey down the Paraguay River – part of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical freshwater wetland. (Left photo by Henry Maillet; right photo by Sebastián Navajas)

Even still, Maillet admits, “it’s not like I grew up on a safari. … (Wildlife photography) came into my life relatively recently – and I’ve just been obsessed.”

Maillet’s portfolio now includes , , , and .

He’s also no stranger to jaguars, having spent the past two years working on an island in Argentina where the big cats were reintroduced after disappearing from the region.

“It felt like Jurassic Park the first time I went,” Maillet said.

In Paraguay, jaguar sightings are far less frequent. Maillet, a Paraguay resident, says he hasn’t spotted the apex predator in five years.

That only fuels his pursuit.

“For this upcoming story,” Maillet said of his National Geographic-supported mission, “it’ll be really impactful if I can get a great photo of a jaguar in Paraguay. I think local people will get really excited about that. It could have a huge impact.”

The former Cavman still hopes to inspire. Only the costume and the purpose have changed.

“I want to document not just wildlife, but also communities and people that are working with wildlife,” he continued. “And each photograph will require a completely different set of tools and skills and methodology.

“I’m super excited.”