I need a true expert in Jaguars and because I live in the US, I am unable to find any help. Looking for someone that hopefully has worked with them in the field and really knows them. Probably a Biologist at a minimum. My search has been long and fruitless. I need a person, not an organization such as Pantera. Those that write about them and spend time in their environment are my favorite target for my needs.

Almost everywhere in Africa they live among much more powerful predators, lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, but they are clearly fascinating animals which fully deserve a topic about them...


" Black-Backed Jackal in full flight at Etosha National Park in Namibia. "

Baleen whales, formerly known as whalebone whales, are cetaceans classified under the parvorder Mysticeti, and consist of f4 extant families: Right whales (Balaenidæ), Rorquals (Balaenopteridæ), Pygmya right whales (Cetotheriid[i]æ[/i]), and gray whales (Eschrichtiidæ). Balænids are distinguished by their enlarged head and thick blubber, while rorquals and gray whales generally have a flat head, long throat pleats, and are more streamlined than Balænids. Rorquals also tend to be longer than the latter: http://darwin.wcupa.edu/~biology/fish/pu...jmorph.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/201603050705...jmorph.pdf, http://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts...ialis.html https://web.archive.org/web/201603050705...jmorph.pdf, https://books.google.com/books?hl=ar&id=...e&q=baleen

Diagrams by Woodward et al.: 
           

2 species of rorquals: humpback (Megaptera novæangliæ) and blue whales (Balænoptera musculus):

In this thread I want to know your opinions on hunting. Is it ethically correct? Is it practically correct (e.g population control)? Should we only hunt to eat? Should we hunt "problem" animals (not necessarily man eaters)? Is trophy hunting justifiable due to the money it brings in for conservation? Are blood sports like fox hunting fine if the population is sustained? And many more variations of the complexities the issue of hunting brings. I'm sure we all have a nuanced view we've developed on this topic over the years, and I'd like to know where everyone stands.

Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinæ of the family Serranidæ, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called 'groupers'; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name 'grouper' is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus and Mycteroperca. In addition, the species classified in the small genera Anyperidon, Cromileptes, Dermatolepis, Gracila, Saloptia, and Triso are also called 'groupers'. Fish in the genus Plectropomus are referred to as 'coralgroupers'. These genera are all classified in the subfamily Epiphelinæ. However, some of the hamlets (genus Alphestes), the hinds (genus Cephalopholis), the yellow-edged lyretails (genus Variola) and some other small genera (Gonioplectrus, Niphon, Paranthias) are also in this subfamily, and occasional species in other serranid genera have common names involving the word "grouper". Nonetheless, the word "grouper" on its own is usually taken as meaning the subfamily Epinephelinæ: https://books.google.com/books?id=cE_IQgAACAAJ&dq

Unusual sighting of grouper eating a shark:

Great whites would be seen as the most terrifying predators in the oceans, because they have the highest recorded number of attacks on humans, both fatal and non-fatal, at least in this list: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-...mplicated/, https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-orcas...g-predator

However, they aren't necessarily man-eaters, rather, they confuse humans for regular prey like seals, and whereas orcas (killer whales) do kill whales, these sharks scavenge on their carcasses:

(The whale isn't shown alive):

There has been a new study on the weights of the Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis Diardi) that gives a good insight into the real size of these cats. The study takes measurements of both captive and and wild individuals. All the captive Clouded Leopards in this study was once wild but has been put in captivity for different reasons not specified in the study. 

A few things to note, all the captive speciments were fasted for 12-14 hours before they were tranqulized and measured. And the body condition of all Clouded Leopards in the study were assessed after the following criteria: 1/5 Cachexia, 2/5 Underweight, 3/5 Ideal weight, 4/5 Overweight, 5/5 Obese. (FR) are wild individuals and © are captive individuals.

The results: 




I was very impressed by the weight of these individuals, especially these wild males weighing well over 20 kilos. And the smaller individuals all being underweight. It`s quite fascinating to see measurements of a species that we know very little about.

So this is basically a thread of animal fight snapshots. You can post scientific artwork, videos, or photos.
I'll start off with 2 Apatosaurus fighting using Brontosmash:

Again a famous extinct beast: the dunkleosteus !

The dunkleosteus was the first marine monster known in the interested by prehistorical life people's mind. 6 meters long, 1 ton weight, dunkleosteus was a placoderm having lived on Earth at the late devonian (383-358 millions years ago). Enjoyed a very powerful bite force: 6000 Newton (till 7400 N at the blade edge). Numerous fossils in Noth America, Ploand, Belgium and Morocco.

Wildlife Institute of India’s tiger expert, Rabin Sharma’s documented cases of Adult Rhino predation by tigers.



A small story about rhino & tiger in Kaziranga NationalPark
28th February,2008. I was supervising the field preparation for upcoming Population Estimation for Asiatic Wild Buffalo (Bubalus Arnee). With me was Tarun Gogoi(for mapping), Prabhat Hazarika (Armed Guard) & Lakhi Das(Driver). At around 2.40 pm we were travelling eastwards from Rutikhowa junction. 
Suddenly, we saw a rhino was running very fast from our left side to right side crossing the road just in front of us.  A deer(we presumed) ran (blurred) after the rhino. I immediately asked Lakhi to switch off the vehicle because I was anticipating a tiger to cross the road after the fleeing rhino & deer. In the meantime we heard a loud crashing sound towards our right. We waited for two minutes. No tiger.  We thought that  tiger has sensed us  and aborted the hunt. So, we got down from the vehicle and gone to inspect the place from where crashing sound came. Behold!  An adult female rhino was lying down in agony. Hamstrings of the hind legs were severed, no other injury. The rhino was fully alive. We returned to Rutikhowa Camp and brought the staff to show the location of the injured rhino. When, we reached the spot, fresh blood was oozing out from the hind portion. My friends insisted on taking few photos with a live wild rhino! Then I had fleeting glimpse of  TIGERS (may be 3 or 4)  approx. 40 feet behind my friends. Hurried back to the road and sent the msg to the Director Surendranath Buragohain & DFO Bankim Sarma.  Next day rhino was found half devoured. (First 4 photos of that incident.) 














Second case involving an adult male rhino and a tiger. in this case, it seems the tiger died in the fight as well.

#WONDERFUL NATURE
It happens (only?) in Kaziranga National Park, a wildlife paradise. 
11th November, 2017. Deep inside the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve widerness.

After thorough observation by Research Officer, Range Officer, Forest Veterinery Officer, Field Director, Deputy Field Director, Vets from CWRC, Honorary Wl Warden in presence of NTCA representatives, staff, media persons and after thorough Post Mortem, it was concluded that cause of death of two flagship species is 'interspecific fight', which is perfactly natural.
(Procedures had been completed at 9.30 pm)
Photo: Manik Ali responding to request of the angle with my camera.







A dead rhino and a dead tiger 38 feet away from it. 7th November, 2017.

(Do not worry, no poaching involved. Only interspecific fight)




Credits to Rabin Sharma.