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Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports
Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports
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Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports
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CONCLUSIONS FROM PANTHERA LIVE:
This doesn't really touch specifically on Brazil, but it's valuable information gathered by the said seminar with Rafael Hoogeteijn and Panthera regarding the coexistence between jaguars, cougars, and ranchers in the region. The Panthera team focused its study of anti-depredatory measures in the region of Middle Magdalena in Colombia (the same region where the alleged 136+kg cattle killer jaguar was from, and the confirmed 110 kg). This particular region is extremely important for jaguars because it signifies a major crossroads between populations from North and South America, it's a key area for the preservation of the genetic diversity of the species. Jaguars are considered umbrella species as their presence usually signifies a healthy biome and ecosystem where other endangered and key species such as the manatees benefit from. The team of Panthera showed three jaguars, one male and two different females from the area caught through camera tracking:  *This image is copyright of its original author The team later worked with a multitude of ranches in the surrounding provinces to instill anti-depredatory measures to decrease the rate of predation by big cats on livestock. 55 ranches in total were part of the experiment. Among the consumption and attack patterns, horses were identified as the species that survived the most predatory attacks although some times enduring bad wounds. Cougars were found to attack and target horses at a higher rate than jaguars. The most interesting part might be that buffalo was among the most attacked and killed livestock by jaguars. In one specific ranch, jaguars killed 17 buffaloes. The attacks on them were classical of jaguar predation, with skull-crushing and consumption from the ribcage and down:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author To stop these attacks, not only on buffaloes but cattle too, the Panthera team supplied ranchers with electric fences that were powered by solar panels. The fences were positioned in a way that a big cat couldn't past under them but that smaller species such as turtles would have no problem moving through. The results were the following:  *This image is copyright of its original author Buffaloes being caged in electric fence  *This image is copyright of its original author Rates of predation before and after fences were put into place. As can be seen, by the chart above, predation was dramatically reduced by the implementation of fences. The few attacks on Buffaloes and cattle reported were due to misuse of the fences by the ranchers (they weren't activating the electricity in the fences). In that same area through camera trapping, they reported another jaguar they named Lucas:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author He can be seen here with a female, showcasing that reproduction might be taking place in the area:  *This image is copyright of its original author And here, camera traps captured a female jaguar and a cougar:  *This image is copyright of its original author They explained that jaguars hunt all available prey from all ages, including bulls. Rafael claimed that predation on 400 kg bulls had been documented before. Buffalo predation in areas such as the Venezuelan Llanos is more scarce, being 25% lower than that of cattle due to their nature of being a more collective and hostile bovine. As part of their anti-depredatory measures, the use of certain breeds of cattle has proven successful. To be specific, certain breeds from Colombia and Brazil that have ties or are direct descendants of Spanish fighting bulls who evolved in the region and learned to fends off jaguar attacks. Here there's a picture of a bull with multiple claw marks from failed predatory attempts by jaguars in the past:  *This image is copyright of its original author Predation on goat and sheep have been reported by cougars and Andean bears all across their range, the use of vigilante dogs has greatly helped in reducing losses:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author They also gave some context as to the extent of the damage caused by the mass hunting of jaguars in the previous century. Rafael said that jaguars had been almost exterminated by the 70s, 31k skins of jaguars were exported to the US alone during that time. He claimed that jaguars are just starting to recover from that massacre. They pointed out how tourism in areas such as Pantanal are helping in the preservation of jaguars and simultaneously providing employment and enriching the local economy. In one specific area of Porto Joffre, Pantanal, there were 7 million dollars in gains in one year from jaguar tourism, while the losses from jaguars were only 121k after the anti-depredatory measures mentioned before were taken into place. Finally, Rafael said that the heaviest jaguar he had known of was a specimen from the Venezuelan Llanos in an area called Rosario who weighed 149 kg, this was in 1959. He explained how the sizes of the jaguars are a direct reflection of the biomass of prey available as well as their quantities, reiterating that floodplains jaguars are the biggest. 
Very nice the live of Rafael Hoogehtejan.
I sent them a message too but wasn't answered but cool amount of information though Luca male looks pretty unique. Jhon also spoke about the male you posted a while back with ''shiny eyes'' at night. the 70's was a nightmare for jags and in my opinion in order for nature to recover this massacre it takes decades and decades. About the bulls despite the failed hunting attempts its impressive the marks jags leave on them theres a massive hole on the hind legs of that bull. I also heard them saying the Pumas are a bit more worrying than jaguars due to them jumping higher and also predating horses very interesting. Buffalo predation really interesting. Interesting power feats of jaguars thats what they're built for, dragging carcasses for long distances no matter the biome hence why they're so strong cats, I know a case of a jaguar dragging an over 500kg bull carcass and had to pass through wires, the predator having tried to drag it under the last wire of the fence, about 40 cm from the ground, in the process breaking one of the bull's horns and after this process the jaguar dragged it more 15 m to West - impressive amount of strength. I am glad Colombia are starting to have success and rebuild their natural enviornment there's some jaguars,ocelots,Jaguarundi,Pumas are good signs. Anyways I just received a message from Crawshaw and just sent him one regarding jags sizes and skull sizes. I told him about our table  he is aware of it. We are on an ongoing conversation back and fourth these days and after I make the posts here on this regards (I am finishing the poacher post one, I just decided it won't be that long and I'll do quick summary) if any of you guys want, ask me questions so I can send to Crawshaw.
(06-09-2020, 06:17 AM)Dark Jaguar Wrote: Very nice the live of Rafael Hoogehtejan.Very exciting about having Crawshaw's informed opinion on the table! Maybe ask him if he has any information on Llanos jaguars and their sizes, as well as more details on jaguar predation patterns that he is aware of. And yes, I was so surprised about these jaguar feats, I guess the buffalo predation question has been more than answered. That case of the jaguar dragging the 500 kg bull solidifies why in my opinion they are the strongest cats pound for pound.
@OncaAtrox I am gonna tell him.
Regarding them being the strongest pound for pound we both got the same opinion. In case you wanna see the case of the 500kg tucura bull check it in more details (in portuguese) its a big article but its worth the read. Its by Fernando Tortato, Allison Devlin, Peter G. Crawshaw Jr and Rafael Hoogehtejan was also involved. https://www.oeco.org.br/blogs/rastro-de-onca/28928-um-rodizio-para-as-oncas/ 
Paul Brooke
Jaguars of the Pantanal is out in print! Just got delivered. And it is gorgeous! So many people to thank and acknowledge for this massive project. I never knew how much work it would be when I first came up with the idea in late 2017. Thanks to Paulo Barreiros, Abbie Martin, Roy Toft, Reginald Popelier, Jacqui Burke, Regina Cardozo, Nate Chappell, Mems Carim, Tom Dyring, Joe McDonald, Jeff Parker, Luis Solano Pochet, Geiser Trivelato, Allison L. Devlin, Fernando Rodrigo Tortato, and many others including Paul Donahue. If you are due for a hard copy, details are forthcoming!  *This image is copyright of its original author I'll definitely be ordering one when they're available.
@peter @epaiva @Pckts @OncaAtrox @GuateGojira @Lycaon and others. Check this one out.
Edition of December 2007 https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/materia/o-amigo-da-onca/ Carlos Roberto Platero. How an ex-hunter now works for the preservation of the species of Jaguars and Pumas. The anesthetic, applied with the aid of a dart, transforms the 100 kilos beast into a domestic cat; unless it doesn't work PHOTO: KEVIN SCHAFER_CORBIS_LATINSTOCK  *This image is copyright of its original author ( I gathered from these sources bellow as well and made it all into one single post ) http://rppnriodaslontras.blogspot.com/20...-mais.html http://revistacrescer.globo.com/Revista/...65,00.html http://revistagloborural.globo.com/Edito...-7,00.html Platero the prior poacher who switched sides. The hunter Platero with the onceiros. Former jaguar killer he today helps researchers save them.  *This image is copyright of its original author "There is no greater emotion than shooting a jaguar/puma" says hunter Carlos Roberto Platero. He follows the trail in one of the last portions of preserved forest of Ivinhema, in Mato Grosso do Sul. The dogs are Platero's eyes in the forest. They are trained to sniff and surround the jaguars. The walk is interrupted by a sequence of howls. The hunter puts his rifle on his back and disappears into the trail in the direction of the noise. A few meters ahead, he finds a jaguar, which has climbed in the canopy of a tree. It is guarded by the dogs. Platero points his rifle at the animal and knocks it down with a precise shot. "Then the hunt is over," he says. He managed to capture a female jaguar. "We caught Tina" says Laury Cullen, a forestry engineer at the Ecological Research Institute (Ipê). "We've found this jaguar before." He and Platero are former hunting buddies. Together they have captured more than 30 jaguars/pumas. But they are not traditional hunters anymore. They don't kill the animals. The shot contained a paralyzing dart. Tina was just anaesthetised. Conservationist Laury Cullen (in green shirt) and a team of veterinarians. The anesthetized jaguars have been given necklaces that will help keep track of your tracks.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Thanks to these researches, we discovered that jaguars don't just live in forest refuges," he says. "They venture out a lot. That's why it's common to see them walking near farms and cities". With this information, researchers realized that there was a mistake in the traditional way of creating protected areas. "This methodology resulted in the formation of isolated forest reserves. Real islands with a very rich nature, but disconnected from each other". The lack of connection of these areas has been recognised as the major obstacle to the reproduction of animals and plants. "Genetic exchange limited to a small territory can also result in waves of extinction. Or, worse, increase the number of cases of trampling on roads between reserves when an animal decides to migrate from one area to another in search of partners". says Cullen. The Past. Platero killed 54 Jaguars/Dark Jaguars/Pumas in eleven years. He threw away all the hides he collected, sinking them with stones into the bottom of the river. There were two painted hides left on the walls of his living room. One, for its exceptional size. It goes almost from floor to ceiling. Another, for the rare design of the stains "which look like ocelot spots". Memories of the past: skin of a jaguar as a trophy.  *This image is copyright of its original author The dogs shoot towards the forest. To follow them, the group gets into tufts of grass, goes into the water and goes through the woods inside. It is almost two hours of walking. The bark of the onceiros (dogs) is indicative of whether or not they are close to a jaguar, the third largest cat in the world, which has a stronger bite than tigers and lions. "The sound changes when they find the beast" says Platero. "At that moment the adrenaline is so great that we even forget that we spent the dawn walking in the woods. The dogs start howling and the hunter disappears towards the noise. Scared, the jaguar climbs a tree. "That is the most dangerous moment. You can't see exactly where the animal is, or if it's going to jump," Platero says. The animal targets the ground in search of a way to escape, but the pack won't let it down. The howls get stronger. It's a sign that the jaguar is completely surrounded. "At that hour, safety is the shot. That's why I don't believe in this story of Zagaia" he says. The instrument that the hunter disdains is a spear made of wood, much used in the Pantanal to kill the cats. According to legends in the region, the hunters bury the zagaia in the heart of the jaguar at the moment it jumps into attack. "I think it's all bush**. Either Jaguar or Puma in order to kill them is only through guns fire bullets. '' says Platero. Right on the first day of work, his six dogs, skinny and Paraguayan but of noble English blood, did not deny the breed. Within minutes, they sniffed the trail of a Jaguar. It ran straight up a first tree. All in the best costume of this kind of hunt. "The most beautiful animal there is is a jaguar," says Platero. "And when it goes up, then it looks like a painting." The vegetation of the Cerrado helps to form this picture. In the forest, it is not always easy to follow the onceiros (dogs). And in the open field, they end up taking the beast to the ground. In that case, there has to have a bunch of dogs. Jaguar, the most cosmopolitan nickname of the Panthera Onca, is a yaguara corrutilla. It comes from the tupi "The one who fights". But, justice be done, the jaguar can run away from the suicide attack that the dogs move it to. It only reacts against the dogs when extreme cornered. And then "It does ugly damages to the dogs" as Platero explains. Even a dead jaguar has already defalcated his pack. It was a large male of 125kg "black painted of black", the biggest one he ever poached. He used to devour the cattles of Santa Clara Farm. When Platero shot him, he fell so heavily that he fell onto Corumbá and "Crushed/Smashed my best dog on the spot". Carlos changed sides. He switched the cartridge for the anesthetic dart. "Killing is easier than saving, especially if the target is the Jaguar or the Dark Jaguar" he compares, referring to the ferocity, brute strength and speed of the Panthera onca in relation to the Puma (Puma concolor) and the outcome in the two types of hunting: in the first, the right aimed shot ends the chase. In the second, it saves. " Jaguars are fast and violent animals, besides beautiful. It dies, but it doesn't run away from the fight " says the hunter, who has already lost eight dogs, 1 in the jaws of the Puma and 7 in the jaws of the jaguar and dark jaguar. ''A cornered Jaguar turns into the devil, it sits on the ground beats and shatters its foes, then it stands up and whoever comes close gets beat up and also Jaguar's paw swipe feels worse than Wooden Cudgel. Did you see the shadow? Then you is gone. '' Carlos killed 54 Jaguars/Dark Jaguars/Pumas until 1998 and sedated 45 from there to here, including the Puma that appears at his feet in the photo bellow. The 57kg beast ( weight later proved by biologist Dênis Sana, from Pró-Carnívoros ) captured on the morning of October 15th at Jandaia Farm in Anaurilândia, hours after slaughtering a two-month-old calf, dragging it to the marsh and started devouring it. Platero and sedated 57kg Puma beast.  *This image is copyright of its original author Dark jaguar trying to remove the dart out of its body.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Bruised calf and dog attacked by jaguars/pumas: fight for survival.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Today he is hired exclusively by researchers. He helps scientists capture jaguars/pumas for monitoring programs. The conversion of the hunter into an environmentalist's helper took place in 1998 when he met Denis Sana, a biologist from the Pró-Carnívoros foundation. It was from that friendship that one of the country's greatest jaguar conservation program helpers emerged. "At first, it was strange not to kill the jaguar. But then you get used to it. ''Today I think it's good, because I know they're disappearing from the woods. You can't keep hunting like you used to," Platero says. The jaguar is taken off the net by a group of vets. Like all monitoring animals, it carries a radio-collar in its neck, a device that allows remote monitoring. The veterinarians also take blood samples and examine the animal. Everything has to happen in less than thirty minutes, before the ounce wakes up. "We've already done a capture in which the animal was not sleeping at all. She jumped on us several times and even killed two dogs on the spot" Platero says. "Then we realized she was with a cub, so she got more agitated. Platero receives from the programs about R$ 800 reais per capture. Double of what the cattlemen paid to have the large cats killed. Platero uses the money to keep the hunting dogs. "Forming a good onceiro-mestre costs money. That's why it makes me sad when a Jaguar or Puma kills my dogs" he says. "To tell you the truth, the problem is not money. I hunt because I like it, and if good hunting comes, I'll do it even for free." Schaller in Pantanal ( same edition published as Platero's https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/materia/o-amigo-da-onca/ ) Schaller put up with the Pantanal for a short time. The jaguars he put on necklaces died before the others, hunted by order of the foremen, who did not care about conservation in Acurizal. But he made school including for the "peaceful feeling of joy" that gave him to follow closely the beast in the night, alone for more than a month, "a few hundred steps away" the wanderings of an adult female while listening to the beeping of the tracker "in the silence of the moonless forest. After Schaller, the adventures with jaguars would never be the same again. In his most recent book, which has just come out in the United States as A Naturalist and Other Beasts, he confesses to being a misanthropist who prefers good solitude to bad teams. But he praises Peter Crawshaw, who had just graduated in biology in Unisinos - Rio Grande do Sul, when he offered himself as Schaller's assistant, without an invitation or letter of recommendation. Two decades later, Crawshaw has disciples from the Amazon to the Serra Gaucha. 2 horrible jaguar captures told by Peter Crawshaw. ( same edition published as Platero's https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/materia/o-amigo-da-onca/ ) With his chin marked by a jaguar's claw and upper incisors that sketch a permanent smile on his red face and blues, Peter Crawshaw looks foreign to brazilians until he opens his mouth. When he begins to narrate his stories in a low voice, a Brazil that has had to change a lot, to continue to be more or less as it was before, appears in the conversation. At the hotel in Foz do Iguaçu, where he told the case of the jaguar of Comboios, his table ended up surrounded by people, who came closer as the first curious to arrive attracted the others with smiles in their faces. To capture it, he plunged years ago from Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul, in a pickup truck from Ibama, to the coast of Espírito Santo. He passed by Coxim on the way, picked up the dogs and "o Tonho", the trusted pantanal guide of farmer João Carlos Marinho Lutz. He cut four states. He arrived in trains on a Saturday night. Early Sunday morning, he went to the place only to see what was ahead. And he didn't like the circus he found armed. Eighteen people were waiting for him. Among them, soldiers of the forest police, mounting guards with 12 gauge shotgun, journalists and a biologist, with an armed camcorder. Everything there started wrong, including "Tonho, who had never captured with me, and he was used to killing". Not knowing what to do, he released the pack, so the dogs could "stretch their legs after the trip". And, before any other idea occurred to him, the jaguar was hooked about 2 and a half meters high with seven dogs gaining at his feet in a branch of embaúba, which is not a tree to serve as a perch to an animal of this size. He knelt down to prepare the dart. And the embaúba broke before he armed the anesthetic gun. The jaguar collapsed on the dogs. When Crawshaw raised his eyes, it was late. "Everybody was running to all sides and the Beast was in front of me around 2 to 3 meters away but on its back fighting all the dogs." The angle didn't allow him to hit Zelotil dose in the hind quarter. And Tonho had pulled the gun. He just yelled, "Don't shoot!" so the jaguar turned to him "Raising the chin aggresively" Tonho shot four gun shots into the ground, just a few palms from the beast. It ran, passing close to the documentary maker who keeping an eye on the viewer had stumbled onto the trail and was stationed on the escape route. To shorten the comedy, the morning ended with three injured dogs, but no human victims. Crawshaw settled this five days later, 6 kilometers from there, without so many people around. It was an old male, blind in one eye, probably driven away from the Sooretama forest by successors. There was no other place in the whole of the Holy Spirit for him. So that he wouldn't end his days in a zoo, Crawshaw "retired" him in Lutz's own farm, "which has 15,000 cattles and he wouldn't mind losing one cattle or another". Crawshaw, without doing much math, thinks he's dealt with "about fifty jaguars". Twenty-plus in the Pantanal. Nine in Carajás. Thirteen on the edge of Porto Primavera. In Iguaçu he captured nine. And six died soon after, clandestinely hunted inside the national park. At the beginning of the last decade, there were probably 150 jaguars in Foz do Iguaçú. The hunters in the vicinity were killing ten a year. During Crawshaw's research, a male fell into traps eight times because he had become addicted to eating the chickens used as bait. Another one became a customer of a hotel dumpster. And a female gave him a lot to do until she was caught, pregnant. Maybe because of the pregnancy, she seemed angry. And she resisted the anesthetic too much. she weighed 75 kilos. "And you had the biggest canine I've ever measured: 5 centimeters long." she only slept with twice the normal dosage of Zoletil. She was unconscious and was given the necklace in front of an entourage, which included Crawshaw's father, three brothers, a brother-in-law and a 5-year-old nephew as well as his field assistant, the biologist Sandra Cavalcanti. With the necklace on the jaguar was hard to wake up. He was on duty, with his father, waiting for the animal to wake up. "You are responsible for the animal until it can defend itself again," Crawshaw explains. With the delay, a couple of Scottish people came on the scene, shepherded by an American ornithologist. They were bird watchers. The three ended up there, against all safety regulations. "The jaguar was lying there, looking at us with dilated pupils. You couldn't get near it anymore," says Crawshaw. But the Scottish tourist squatted in front of her to take a picture. With the photo camera flash burst, the jaguar rose instantly. Scared, the woman fell into the red clay of the drenched road. The jaguar, half groggy, also skidded into the mud. Crawshaw had time to jump between the two before the animal resumed its attack. "The beast stood, grabbed my head with her claws and pulled me into her mouth" he recalls. He pushed her jaws with his hand. His thumb slipped into the middle of her jaw. And he heard his bone snapping when her jaws shut. Slipping in the mud, the two fell "luckily, each to one side." Thanks to Zoletil dose, what was enough in the jaguar in strength she was missing in motor coordination. If she was sober, Crawshaw believes she'd probably leave. But, "dizzy as she was, she'd strike in any movement." And so she'd come again when his father grabbed her by the tail. "That's right: my father at 69 years old grabbed the jaguar's tail and started pulling it" says Crawhaw. "She gave up on me, turned around and bit his shin. She just lay there with his leg between her teeth." Crawshaw shouted to his father not to move, " otherwise it'll all get ripped," he ran to the car and picked up in the trunk a pool cue with a syringe on the tip. No anesthetic, it was just to suck the belly of the jaguar. It worked, in terms: "She dumped my dad and went back to my side. Grabbed one shoulder and clawed it about four times." through smacks with the beast Crawshaw backed off to the car, a veteran Rural Willys. The vehicle Only had two doors. And the front seat was, by that moment, occupied by four people (all terrified by the beast). Crawshaw threw himself into the tourists lap and slammed the door. The jaguar crashed against the car. She stayed there for a while, staring and growlling at them. And it wasn't until the moment she left that he remembered that the back covers of the trunk were still wide open. Crawshaw came out of the incident with abrasions "in the body everywhere" a fractured thumb and "the lip hanging " and he says, making a gesture with his hand below the chin. After this meeting, he would follow the life of the jaguar, via the necklace for fourteen months. She became more and more dangerous during this time. For three times she went around his Ibama employee house, at the beginning of the Estrada do Poço Preto. She killed three dogs, one per visit. The soap opera ended when the jaguar fell into a trap again. Examining it, Crawshaw discovered that she had lost a canine and her gum had become infected. She was reduced to preying on pets. He dispatched her to the Piracicaba Zoo, where he found her again four years later. note: This aggressive female jaguar from my suspicious from the datas previously shown by Peter Crawshaw, I think this aggressive female jag is CG female. I AM GONNA DROP THE POST WHICH IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS ONE RIGHT NOW.
From the post above as you already know there's one large dark jaguar of 125kg that smashed/crushed a dog on the fall mentioned in one of Platero's hunts in the 90's. Last week This jaguar gave me sleepless nights wondering whether it could be from Cerrado or Atlantic Forest due to the area it was poached, Santa Clara farm. I knew the chances of that poached dark jaguar being from Atlantic forest would be very unlikely due to its massive size so he could definitely be a Cerrado jaguar. I did tons of researches and investigations in order to see if there's any area that Cerrado jaguars could trespass to the Sta Clara farm which is very near Atlantic Forest. I even found mountains and other areas on the borders that cerrado jags could trespass but it wasn't enough for me to conclude my doubts and investigation. So I decided to ask someone who knows better than anyone else on these regards.
I messaged Peter Crawshaw last Saturday and for my surprise he answered the same afternoon of that day, I was really surprised and happy.  *This image is copyright of its original author I asked him if that area where Santa Clara farm is located in Atlantic forest could be a slight possibility of that dark jaguar of 125kg poached in the 90's be from Cerrado?. So he asked me if the Sta Clara farm is the one near Anaurilândia MS? I confirmed and then he said that Sta Clara farm is located in neither Cerrado nor Atlantic forest.  ''Its a unique area with rich biodiversity its like a mini-Pantanal with Cattles and thats why jaguars reach large sizes there however today most of that place is found underwater and now its Porto Primavera.'' That area can't be considered Cerrado or Atlantic Forest. He also said he captured a Dark Jaguar of 110 kilos in Santa Clara farm in the 90's. So I asked it doesn't belong within any brazilian biome? He said ''Yes it does, Its Varjões do Paranazão which were very characteristic even with the presence of Pantanal Deers. It was this wealthy of fauna and more specifically of prey that allowed them to reach these weights of jaguars of the Pantanal and that's why you can't compare them to jaguars of the cerrado, where some of the preys are even the same but their densities are much lower but where cattles are introduced, they always inflate the prey base and this makes a difference in the weight that jaguars can reach as well, if they have regular access to cattle as food'' So yeah cattles literally boost jaguar's sizes. I took advantage and asked about the relation between Black/Açú Caimans and Jaguars in Amazon. He said ''I believe that the relationship between Jaguars and Black/Açú Caimans is very different, perhaps even of mutual respect. I think I remember a video of a Black/Açú Caiman preying on a jaguar cub, but I never knew if it was legitimate'' I told him about the table we gathered through projects captures and also I told him about OUR thoughts on pantanal male jaguars today being larger on average and overall than 40 years ago that animals had tough times with hunts.... and I mentioned my guess of 105kg on average for pantanal males and I also mentioned the modern cerrado male jags with large males near 120kg or possibly above. he said ''I haven't been following the projects that are happening anymore, and I wouldn't know how to answer you, especially regarding the cerrado jaguars. But it seems difficult to me that the average weight even of males in the cerrado exceeds 100 kg - unless as I said before if they have regular access to predation on cattle/livestock. then I asked is it possible with the big amount of male pantanal jaguars with 130 kg+ with caimans and cattles on their diet, can pantanal males average be above 100kg today? he said ''It is quite possible that the average has exceeded 100 kg already, for adult males in the Pantanal'' I asked him if he has skull sizes of jaguars. he told me he had 2 skulls but donated them to museums but he still got their measurements but he gotta find it. ''what I have of more is the length of the head of animals, which would be equivalent to the length of the skull, but it is not exact.'' @OncaAtrox Regarding your predation question I quoted 2 very tough animals for jaguars to take. adult Buffalo and adult Boar. he said ''I don't know if there's that information with field data. I've seen videos of jaguars running away from buffaloes in the Pantanal and heard about it in Maracá-jipioca in Amapá (Amazon).'' ''Predation may occur on boars, but I haven't heard anything about jaguars predating boars yet.'' 
@Dark Jaguar
Thanks again for sharing these interesting glimpses of the most under studied big cat. Means a bunch Cheers (06-13-2020, 05:17 AM)Dark Jaguar Wrote: From the post above as you already know there's one large dark jaguar of 125kg that smashed/crushed a dog on the fall mentioned in one of Platero's hunts in the 90's. Last week This jaguar gave me sleepless nights wondering whether it could be from Cerrado or Atlantic Forest due to the area it was poached, Santa Clara farm. I knew the chances of that poached dark jaguar being from Atlantic forest would be very unlikely due to its massive size so he could definitely be a Cerrado jaguar. I did tons of researches and investigations in order to see if there's any area that Cerrado jaguars could trespass to the Sta Clara farm which is very near Atlantic Forest. I even found mountains and other areas on the borders that cerrado jags could trespass but it wasn't enough for me to conclude my doubts and investigation. So I decided to ask someone who knows better than anyone else on these regards. So turns out that cattle do make jaguars grow bigger. Since we know that the jaguars from the Pleistocene were twice as big and jaguars, in general, were forced to reduce in size after the megafauna extinction, my guess is that by consuming larger prey such as cattle these jaguars are reawakening the potential in size they could reach. A clear example is the 136+kg cattle killer from Middle Magdalena, Colombia, this wasn't even a Llanos specimen yet it grew huge thanks to the cattle it predated on. I'm also incredibly intrigued by this new biome in Brazil, according to him such biome has been lost now due to floodings? If so that would such a shame seriously, who knows the amount of fauna and biodiversity lost along the way, and the fact that the jaguars in that area were also growing big seems to solidify the idea that jaguars who inhabit floodplains with access to large food in large quantities are bound to be the biggest. I can only imagine how majestic that 125 kg panther must have been. Great info! 
DARK JAGUAR (and Onca)
More authentic and firsthand information about jaguars and those who know and care about them. The cooperation with Onca (many thanks as well) has been very productive. Keep it up. The info on other animals living in that region also is much appreciated. Maybe you can find a bit more on the unknown bushdogs, the Andes bear, the harpy eagle and some of the snakes. Something else. When I visited wild regions, people always told me about unknown creatures. I never asked for them; they, more or less, found me. If you hear or read stories about on unknown creatures, please let us know. The best way to find out a bit more is to talk to people who know the forest.
@Lycaon
You welcome I'll try to gather more datas of the most elusive big cat with the master Peter Crawshaw. @OncaAtrox That mini biome Varjões do Paranazão was always there, It is new to us haha that's right big part of it was lost and the amount of prey there and specially the cattles of the Sta Clara farm boosted jaguars sizes in the region. With the cattles available as prey they can reach incredible sizes. speaking of prey it was recently stated by IOP that in PNE region cerrado the jaguars from that area main prey is surprisingly the giant anteater which even surprised Leandro Silveira given the fact how dangerous giant anteaters can be on face off, cerrado jags are the best at dealing with them and most of cerrado jags predation on them are by ambush which is very understandable. I think that in order to reach sizes similar to the ancient jaguars they will need more than cattles cause those ancient jaguars were the size of lions/tigers right? sadly the amount of megafauna overall lost is immense. more than we can imagine. there's also the man-eater named Assassino right, he was above the 150kg range he was said to be huge cattle killer hence why that massive size. what I was intrigued was that aggressive atlantic forest female, after all the trouble she returned to the area 3 times where Crawshaw was possibly to finish the job. I wouldn't want to run into her around the streets specially at night, there's also the fact she had the longest canines Crawshaw had ever measured on jaguars. There's something I learned from this ''Never take a pic in front of an awakening wild jaguar''  .there is also the moment he saw the old male jaguar 3 meters away of him from its back fighting the dogs. I just keep imagining the scene in my mind many times, me out there on Peter's place how my reaction would be like, what incredible experiences he lived with jaguars and almost died twice to protect the species haha. without mention the ones he haven't told to the public. @peter That would be amazing to get infos of more understudied animals. I am following a project from Caatinga named ''Bichos da Caatinga'' they regularly show Scorpions, many species of snakes of drought plains of caatinga as well as other repitiles from the biome, Owls and much more, I will post more of their content around here, regarding bushdogs I know a case that with the lack of individuals of the same species two different species mated with one another which is pretty bad and now we got hybridization in nature due to them being endangered and speaking of endangered there's the so sought after (by the black market) and elusive exotic Golden Lion Tamarin as well, I recall only posting two pics of them here, there's the largest scaled freshwater fish the Pirarucu, There's the most feared fish of the amazon and other areas in Brazil by people, the infamous Candirú and Candirú Açú, there's the Manatee, the list is endless. I'll post if I find some nice info of these animals and also the fantastic Maned Wolf that can't be out of the list hehe.
http://tomdyring.blogspot.com/2016/11/ja...ttack.html
Jaguar attack. Holyfield male's aggressiveness.  *This image is copyright of its original author "Holyfield", first attack D5, 200-400 4,0 / 330 mm, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 3600
We are in the vast wilderness of Pantanal Brazil to look for jaguars. One evening we find a mating couple on the riverbank. The big male is an "old friend" of ours, and luckily he is known to have a steady & accepting attitude to humans. He has a big scar in his left lip, so let`s call him "Scarface". We follow their amorous adventure on the beach for hours and sometimes we get really close to them ... until the Brazilian night swallow them into the big black sack. Next morning we go to try to find them again and thanks to the growing & snarling from the matings we manage to locate them. At least : We think we have found the same couple, but what we do not know (until we checked the pictures after the incident) is that "Scarface" probably got beaten up & chased away during the night by an even bigger & more dominant male. This guy has lost he tip of his left ear, so let`s call him "Holyfield". Holyfield is not often seen, but when he appears it`s usually in connection with some passionate love affair .... and he is known to be grumpy !! We approach the couple on the beach believing that the male is "Scarface", and on a pretty close distance one of us makes a lousy imitation of a male jaguar call. The reaction is immediate & unexpected : "Holyfield" rolls up his lips, displays his enormous canine teeth, curl up his nose, puts his ears flat down ... and with a drooling roar launch a striking attack towards us. We`e in a flat little boat on the beach with the bottom litterally on the shore and we have no possibility to get away. Luckily for us "Holyfield" stops at 4 - 5 m, roaring & drooling, making a really scary impression ... before he attends back to the Lady in the shady bush. I understand of course that this was a very dangerous situation, but at the same time I dispair ... because I missed to get the best pictures. With a beating heart we pull back and put the boat on the shore a little bit further away. After this we loose them out of sight. At some stage my friend gets up and walks to the front of the boat to look for them. What we don`t know is that "Holyfield"& the Lady are in the middle of "the Act" behind the grass right in front of the boat, and the mere sight of the human beeing this close makes "Holyfield" furious !!! He then, spins around and launch a new wild attack towards us. This time I`m ready to shoot !! .... and I instruct myself to stand my ground, overrule my natural reflexes to pull back and focus & shoot. However the frightening sight of 140kg of drooling muscles with the most deadly bite among all cats in the world coming to take me ... is too much !! After a quick series of pictures I stumble backwards into the boat and shoot my camera up in the sky & down on the floor as I was trying to save my neck from the deadly tsunami !
After altogether 4 attacks we are still alive (!!) ... and pull back with enough adrenalin to fuel a spaceship to the moon !!! I will never forget this situation ! "Holyfield" giving unmistakeable warning D5, 600 4,0, F75,0, 1/1000, ISO 2000  *This image is copyright of its original author "Holyfield" right before attack D5, 200-400 4,0, f/4,0, 1/1250, ISO 1250  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The attack is on ! D5, 200-400 4,0, f/4,0, 171250, ISO 4500  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author This is where I stumble backwards and loose focus ! Although unsharp it gives an impression of the situation !  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author A grumpy cat ! D5, 200-400 4,0 / 250 mm, f/4,0, 1/1600, ISO 2500  *This image is copyright of its original author "Scarface" and female the first evening D5, 200-400 4,0 / 400 mm, f/5,0, 1/1600, ISO 640  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Scarface" and female : The last phase of the mating looks anything but friendly ! D5, 200-400 4,0 / 400 mm, f/5,0, 1/1600, ISO 800  *This image is copyright of its original author Portrait of the Female from the first evening D5, 200-400 4,0 / 200 mm, f/4,0, 1/800, ISO 5000  *This image is copyright of its original author "Scarface" in the first evening D5, 200-400 4,0 / 220 mm, f/4,0, 1/800, ISO 5600  *This image is copyright of its original author May their lesson be learned and next time hopefully they won't get that much close of any wild jaguar anymore regardless, if they don't wanna see a 140kg grumpy cat frightening them again and most importantly to not stress out the jaguar. With that being said, what impressive thick canines Holyfield got. Impressive beast.
@Dark Jaguar Holyfield is an impressive male, those canines are tiger-like! They were lucky he didn't fully charge at them. This situation reminded me of the movie with the Mountain Lord, an aggressive male cat that is dominant and doesn't fear humans.
(06-15-2020, 01:21 AM)OncaAtrox Wrote: @Dark Jaguar Holyfield is an impressive male, those canines are tiger-like! They were lucky he didn't fully charge at them. This situation reminded me of the movie with the Mountain Lord, an aggressive male cat that is dominant and doesn't fear humans. @"OncaAtrox" I think he would've fully charged in case they stepped out of the boat and approached even more in that stressful moment for the animal. But of course nobody in sober mind would do that but even on the boat is risky in those moments when the wild animal becomes even more unpredictable.
What do jaguars eat?
Refúgio Ecológico Caiman - South Pantanal. Jaguars eat just about anything. A study conducted nearby to Caiman Ecological Refuge in 2003-2004 compiled a list of items found in jaguar feces. This particular study included prey items from 19 taxa. This varied diet adds to the adaptability of this cat. The Leopards in Africa are considered to have the broadest diets of any cat with a prey list of close to 100. The current list of species eaten by Jaguar sits not far behind at 85! Jaguars do however show a preference for large mammalian prey. Much of the Pantanal is used for cattle ranching, and thus cattle make up a large component of a Jaguars diet. Cattle Ranching has been practiced here for about 200 years and so one can truly say that the presence of cattle is entrenched in the day-to-day life of a Jaguar. The cow is as much a part of this landscape as the Acacia tree is to an African savanna. Prey larger then 15 kg makes up about 60% of a Jaguars diet. In the study the most common ‘wild’ or ‘native’ species killed was capybara (31%) followed by Caiman (20%). Another species, which constitutes a large percentage of a Jaguars diet is the Marsh/Pantanal Deer with 11%. Livestock represented 28% of kills found. The Capybara is a crucial component in a Jaguars diet.  *This image is copyright of its original author I believe that the carcasses of Caiman are often dragged into the deep thickets and forests, this results in us hardly ever finding their remains.  *This image is copyright of its original author The study also set out to prove if the presence of the cattle was having an impact on Jaguar population levels. They found that even though the abundance of livestock, on that particular ranch, was 18 times higher than wild prey in the area, livestock represented 28% of the kills, resulting in less than 20% of the biomass consumed. This consumption rate was much less pronounced then one might assume in an area so rich in cattle. The results provided some evidence to support the fact that the wild prey base is indeed sufficient to sustain the population of jaguars and that the Jaguars do not require a subsidy of livestock to survive. It stands to reason that the chances of finding the carcass of a cow are higher than that of a capybara. Also, cowboys managing their herds, find a lot of the Jaguar kills for us. Again, it makes sense that the cowboys are more vigilant to finding and reporting cattle deaths than of other wild/native species. Black Vultures pick away at the decaying carcass of a young cow. This bull was killed a week before this was taken.  *This image is copyright of its original author Cowboys doing their thing…rounding up the cattle  *This image is copyright of its original author So whilst a lot of the Jaguar kills that we manage to find at Caiman Ecological Refuge are of cattle, we need to realize that this is only a fraction of what they are really killing. A Tapir…the heaviest land mammal in South America  *This image is copyright of its original author A heard of White- lipped Peccary. When together in big numbers these animals can be quite intimidating.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Pampas Deer.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Giant Anteater… remarked to be one of the more difficult animals to overpower.  *This image is copyright of its original author Written by Adam Bannister Inspired by the research of: Cascelli de Azevedo, F. C. and Murray, D. L. (2007). Spatial organization and food habits of jaguars (Panthera onca) in a floodplain forest. Biol. Conserv. 137: 391-402. |
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