(08-31-2020, 07:03 AM)VBalam Wrote: Just as I thought, jaguars are predating on wild horses in los Llanos according to photographer Ernesto Badog who spent a lot of time in the Aurora Reserve in the Colombian Llanos tracking jaguars and studying the fauna of the area:

*This image is copyright of its original author

"Wild horses have been grazing on here (Aurora Reserve) for years, it's incredible to see them running through the savanna during sunsets. Wild horses too make part of the jaguar diet!"

Through my talk with Jorge Barragán, the owner of the hato, his claims that he hadn't witness predation were most likely refering to the domestic horses used to gather the cattle which are kept indoors and protected. It's important to highly that these reserves in los Llanos boast from hundreds to up to thousands of wild horses depending on their size. A study I read on the ecology of wild horses in hato El Frío, Venezuela, spoke about the pack of observed predation on horses by big cats due to the absence of said cats on the hato. I'm now interested to know of the people at Panthera who are doing plenty of work tracking these jaguars have more information about the predator-prey relationship between jaguars and wild horses, this is fascinating.

@epaiva @peter and everyone else might find this information interesting as well!  :lol:

(08-27-2020, 07:25 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(08-11-2020, 03:59 PM)Dark Jaguar Wrote: Jaguar predation on Feral Pigs in Pantanal.

Feral Pigs ( Monteiro pigs ) in Pantanal.

https://oncafari.org/2013/10/16/feral-pigs-in-the-pantanal-portuguese/

"Usually, exotic and invasive species are a major threat to native wildlife: they compete with local species, introduce parasites and diseases, and hinder the ecological regime. But a rare case occurred in the Pantanal. Here, an introduced mammal has helped the conservation of local wildlife" - Environmental News Network

Pigs were introduced to the Pantanal about 200 years ago. Usually the introduction of exotic animals is always bad for biodiversity and the local ecosystem. Especially pigs, due to their voracious appetite and the habit of eating roots. They also carry diseases, spoil plants and small animal populations. Despite all this, this did not happen in the Pantanal.

Until 1967 commercial hunting was a threat to the biodiversity of the Pantanal. The introduction of pigs alleviated the hunting of native animals, giving the chance for populations to rise again. Many in the Pantanal, until today, prefer to hunt these fertile pigs instead of wild animals, because of the ease of finding them, their large numbers and because they provide a good amount of meat. Hunting monastery pigs is part of the culture of the Pantanal.

As in the Ecological Refuge Caiman hunting is strictly forbidden we could imagine that the population of these monastery pigs would get out of control, but this does not happen because the jaguars keep this population balanced.''


See below a video of a monster pig feeding on a bull carcass, killed the night before by a jaguar.

An unusual image. a feral pig ( monteiro pig ), a living cattle, a dead cattle and many black headed vultures.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The feral pigs in the Pantanal eat practically everything.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Feral Pig feeds on the soft parts of the carcass.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Photographed, Written and filmed by: Adam Bannister
Inspired by Arnaud Desbiez's research

(08-31-2020, 08:15 PM)Dark Jaguar Wrote:

(08-11-2020, 03:59 PM)Dark Jaguar Wrote: Jaguar predation on Feral Pigs in Pantanal.

Feral Pigs ( Monteiro pigs ) in Pantanal.

https://oncafari.org/2013/10/16/feral-pigs-in-the-pantanal-portuguese/

"Usually, exotic and invasive species are a major threat to native wildlife: they compete with local species, introduce parasites and diseases, and hinder the ecological regime. But a rare case occurred in the Pantanal. Here, an introduced mammal has helped the conservation of local wildlife" - Environmental News Network

Pigs were introduced to the Pantanal about 200 years ago. Usually the introduction of exotic animals is always bad for biodiversity and the local ecosystem. Especially pigs, due to their voracious appetite and the habit of eating roots. They also carry diseases, spoil plants and small animal populations. Despite all this, this did not happen in the Pantanal.

Until 1967 commercial hunting was a threat to the biodiversity of the Pantanal. The introduction of pigs alleviated the hunting of native animals, giving the chance for populations to rise again. Many in the Pantanal, until today, prefer to hunt these fertile pigs instead of wild animals, because of the ease of finding them, their large numbers and because they provide a good amount of meat. Hunting monastery pigs is part of the culture of the Pantanal.

As in the Ecological Refuge Caiman hunting is strictly forbidden we could imagine that the population of these monastery pigs would get out of control, but this does not happen because the jaguars keep this population balanced.''


See below a video of a monster pig feeding on a bull carcass, killed the night before by a jaguar.

An unusual image. a feral pig ( monteiro pig ), a living cattle, a dead cattle and many black headed vultures.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The feral pigs in the Pantanal eat practically everything.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Feral Pig feeds on the soft parts of the carcass.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Photographed, Written and filmed by: Adam Bannister
Inspired by Arnaud Desbiez's research

onças do rio negro


Feral pig ( Monteiro pig ) predated by Mancha Preta male.

*This image is copyright of its original author

(08-31-2020, 08:00 PM)Balam Wrote: @epaiva thanks a lot for that information, it's fascinating to see this dynamic of jaguars hunting equids, especially because equids were thought to be part of the diet of jaguars during the Pleistocene in both North and South America before they went extinct 8,000 years ago. I read on a book about Llanos history that on the Venezuelan side alone there was an estimated 300,000 horses roaming free, my guess is that I'd you add Colombia the population was probably at around half a million a few centuries ago. This huge concentration of large ungulates skin to what is seen in Africa could very well explain why the historic sizes for Llanos jaguars were so big, and why I don't think that the claim of the male shot in Cojedes who allegedly weighed 180 kg is necessarily unfounded. If some jaguars managed to actively hunt 300+ kg horses on a regular basis, then of course they'd grow enormous.

Base on the books and studies I have read on Llanos wild horses, they seem to have developed a ton of anti-depredatory measures to fend off cougar and jaguar attacks, including living in very large herds to more easily spot danger, and avoid congregating near the gallery forests (especially at night) where the jaguars recide. I'll go into more detail about it once I have more time, but this dynamic is fascinating as I said. Lions in Africa aren't the only big cats bringing down equids.