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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - C - THE JAGUAR (Panthera onca)
ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - C - THE JAGUAR (Panthera onca)
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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - C - THE JAGUAR (Panthera onca)
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The list of the heaviest jaguars
There are only a few studies about the jaguars in America. Most of them are from El Pantanal (Brazil) and Los Llanos (Venezuela). The few records of other areas show smaller specimens and the samples are very small to. In order the give a backup to my list of heaviest jaguars on scientific records, I will put all the data on them. From the 10 record specimens, five came from Sunquist & Sunquist (2002) and the others came from other firsthand sources. In the case of the Venezuelan jaguar of 121 kg, the Pantanal male of 119 kg and the Belize male of 66 kg, I have the original sources, but as Sunquist quote them correctly, I will just quote him instead of three different images (now, if someone wants the original images, I will post them gladly).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla...YUGIYdsZC8 The male looks not gorged, although with a little stomach content (138 kg empty?) When I track the source, I emailed to Dr Sandra Cavalcanti and here is her answer:  *This image is copyright of its original author So, this male was indeed of 148 kg and constitutes a real scientific record.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Here is the link of the document, in Spanish: http://www.procarnivoros.org.br/pdfs/05...._alpdf.pdf Dr Peter Crawshaw Jr. Corroborate to me that this male came from Proto Primavera and even send me some body measurements of the specimen during its first capture. All these specimens have feed at least 24 hours before its capture.
http://www.jaguar.org.br/en/media/photos...index.html http://www.black-jaguar.org/page/277/Jaguar-news The picture of the specimen:  *This image is copyright of its original author Just a correction, the male was captured in 2009, not in 2004. These sources corroborate the correct date. Now I have found another large male, also from Emas NP that weighed 105 kg, here is the link of the document: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/gmb/v29n4/32128.pdf So, the correct record for Emas NP in Brazil most be like this: * 105 kg. Emas NP, Center of Brazil. (Soares et al., 2006). Check that this male was older in date than the previous one. This is what I have told to Chui, in any day, a “new” record could rise and change this full list.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Although the source states a top figure of 90 kg, it sounds like an estimation. The sample is very small, but at least suggestive.
http://www.azgfd.net/wildlife/conservati...009/02/20/ At least, in this case, the record is somewhat unreliable as this is the only male weighed in the area and is not other records from for comparison.
 *This image is copyright of its original author This are the sources that I used for the list, however, there are other records from Venezuela and Brazil, but has not been corroborated or had they stomach full of beef. This account is very interesting: “While jaguars in some parts of the country, such as Amazonas or the basin of the Caura River, seem to be rather small, with the usual male weight not exceeding 80kg, several reports from regions such as Los Llanos describe the hunting of extremely large jaguars (Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi, 1996; authors’ unpublished data). According to reports of workers at Hato Piñero, one jaguar male killed there weighed 159kg and another, recently killed in the vicinity, weighed 130kg. Accordingly to a worker at Hato Socorro, a jaguar killed on the border of Cojedes and Portuguesa states weighed 180kg. Large jaguars are also believed to live in the area of Lake Maracaibo. Although these reports cannot be verified, it seems that in parts of Venezuela where jaguars prey on cattle, their body mass is generally higher.” Source: http://www.google.com.gt/url?sa=t&rct=j&...Bk6A9iUzPQ These figures show claims of the same weight than those reported by Sasha Siemel in El Pantanal. However, I can’t believe in a jaguar of 180 kg, it is too extreme and would need verification. Apart from this data, there is the sample showed here by peter from Paraguay, there the heaviest male weighed 106 kg. Surprisely, the heaviest puma of the same location weighed 108 kg. Now we will need to read the original document to see if these specimens were baited, gorged or empty belly. Source: http://www.conservationforce.org/conserv..._FINAL.pdf From a sample of 5 specimens (two males only) captured in Hato Piñero, Venezuela, the heaviest was of 93 kg. However, something in the body measurements don’t seems right. Well, here is the document: Source: http://www.jaguarnetwork.org/pdf/44.pdf
Heaviest jaguars on record
Maybe someone could add more data, but for the moment, this is what I have found. Just a correction, according with Google books, the edition of De Almeida book that I have used is of 1990, not 1993. Records of the heaviest jaguars (Panthera onca) from scientific sources and reliable hunting literature: · Brazil: o 148 kg. Pantanal, South of Brazil [Radiocollared by scientists in the field] (Cavalcanti, Pers. Comm., 2012). o 130 kg. Porto Primavera, South of Brazil (Morato et al., 2001). o 119 kg. Pantanal, South of Brazil. (De Almeida, 1990; Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002). o 105 kg. Emas NP, Center of Brazil. (Soares et al., 2006). · Venezuela: o 121 kg. Los Llanos, Venezuela. (Hoogesteijn & Mondolfi, 1993; Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002). o 93 kg. Hato Piñero, Venezuela. (Scognamillo et al., 2003). · Paraguay: 106 kg. Chaco paraguayo (McBride, 2007). · Amazonas: 96 kg. No specific location (Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002). · Bolivia: 93 kg. Guapore river (De Almeida, 1990). · Central America: 66 kg. Belize (Rabinowitz & Nottingham, 1996; Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002). · United States of America: o 63.6 kg. Texas (Schmidly & Davis, 2004). o 53.5 kg. Arizona (Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2009). · Peru: 37 kg. Peruvian forest (Hoogesteijn & Mondolfi, 1996; Sunquist & Sunquist, 2002). * Note: Some of the records belong to small samples and offers only suggestive results. There are reports in Brazil and Venezuela of jaguars of up to 145-160 kg in literature (Guggisberg, 1975; Hoogesteijn & Mondolfi, 1993), but this may represent gorged specimens (De Almeida, 1990) and in some cases, it is difficult to confirm those figures.
Picture of the heaviest jaguar on scientific record
In the tradition of having all the available data about the heaviest cats recorded by scientists, pictures are a basic fact that we most have. So, just like we have the picture of the heaviest tiger (Nepalese "Sauraha" male), lion (Etosha male) and leopard (Namibia male), here it is the picture of the heaviest jaguar in scientific records:  *This image is copyright of its original author The text is in Spanish and translated to English is this: “Photo No. 7: The weight of the jaguar varies greatly according with the geographical region from the Central Americans of 50 kg to specimens like this of 148 kg captured for studies with radio-collar in the northern Pantanal.” Is important to mention that its belly is practically flat, which suggest that contrary to my previous statements, it seems that this huge jaguar was “empty belly”, not like the 159 kg jaguar of Sasha Siemel. I will email to Dr Cavalcanti again, maybe she have the body measurements of this great cat. Here is the document (also in Spanish): http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/fi...-VERDE.pdf In the video, we can see that the handkerchief on the eyes of the jaguar is the same than that of the video, so I am 100% sure that this is the record jaguar of 148 kg. Rest my case.
Record Jaguars of Sasha Siemel:
Sasha Siemel was one of the most famous hunters of all times, and probably the most famous jaguar hunter in Brazil. He claimed that he have hunted over 250 jaguars only with a spear, using a similar method to the used by the American Indians to kill bears. He is the source of the record jaguar, which is up to 350 lb, here is the images of which could be the heaviest jaguar ever recorded, from the book “Tigrero” (Tiger killers) and the official webpage of Siemel (check that in many parts of America, except Brazil, “tiger” is a synonymous of “jaguar”, just like “lion” is for “puma-cougar”):  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The jaguar is simple HUGE, but its belly is apparently full of beef. The large male was named “El Asesino” (The killer) because it hunted many cattle heads in the farms of the Pantanal region. I think that the weight of 350 lb (159 kg, correctly calculated, not the 158 kg often quoted) is a little artificial, as it is obvious that the animal had some stomach content. I am agree with De Almeida in that the heaviest jaguars are up to 130 kg empty belly and up to 150-160 kg when fully gorged. This source also states this:  *This image is copyright of its original author Here is another record jaguar (300 lb – 136 kg), also from the Pantanal and hunted by Siemel:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author These huge 300 lb cats show that jaguars are no need to be very long to reach huge weights.
Record jaguars from Venezuela:
I have found these images in a forum. Apparently, they came from the book “Jaguares, llanos y Baqueanos” from Luis Agosti (in Spanish). This man shows some large cats, here are the images: Female of 65 kg:  *This image is copyright of its original author Males of 103 kg and 88 kg respectively:  *This image is copyright of its original author Huge male of 150 kg!  *This image is copyright of its original author The smaller specimen’s looks empty belly, but the large one of 150 kg has a large belly, which suggests that it had some stomach content (130 kg empty?). 
Those pumas from Paraguay have their weight recorded in pounds, so the heaviest male is 108lbs and not 108kg. Read the text on page 12 of the document.
Interesting observation Richard, I guess why they weighed they jaguars and they pumas with different measurements.
At least, for the jaguars, the figures are in Kilograms:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author So these pumas are pretty small, which is understandable given that where cougars and jaguars co-exist, the cougars tend to be small.
Exactly, so the largest puma there was of only 49 kg.
Thank to point this out. [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img] 
Alfred court said that Jaguars are "stupid" so they tend to be easily avoidable and predictable with their reactions, but states that if you ever are unlucky enough to get caught by one, it is over.
He speaks of their unreal box pitbull shaped head and their massive muscles that are packed into them. They are his most frustrating cat to train. (05-12-2014, 04:05 AM)'Pckts' Wrote: Alfred court said that Jaguars are "stupid" so they tend to be easily avoidable and predictable with their reactions, but states that if you ever are unlucky enough to get caught by one, it is over. Interesting info, PC. I propose to continue in the thread on captive animals. This board is about wild animals. I'll start a thread on captive big cats (circus) in the board reserved for just that. (05-16-2014, 03:32 AM)'peter' Wrote:(05-12-2014, 04:05 AM)'Pckts' Wrote: Alfred court said that Jaguars are "stupid" so they tend to be easily avoidable and predictable with their reactions, but states that if you ever are unlucky enough to get caught by one, it is over. Thats fine, but there is very little info on Jaguar personality compared to other cats, so I figured it could be helpful here. (05-16-2014, 05:33 AM)'Pckts' Wrote:(05-16-2014, 03:32 AM)'peter' Wrote:(05-12-2014, 04:05 AM)'Pckts' Wrote: Alfred court said that Jaguars are "stupid" so they tend to be easily avoidable and predictable with their reactions, but states that if you ever are unlucky enough to get caught by one, it is over. You got a point there, but it also is a fact opinions differ. Mabel Stark, for instance, said her male black jaguar was more intelligent than all other big cats she had trained. The only thing we can be sure about is humans fear wild jaguars. Rabinowitz saw it in Belize and I can confirm humans avoided jaguars in Surinam and French Guyana as well. The reason isn't man-eaters (very few), but the behaviour towards humans in regions where they compete. The jaguar on the island where I stayed for two days, however, was quite communicative. He showed us he lived there too after the first night, but he didn't mind visitors. After the second night, however, his prints were over ours and he had left scratch marks on the tree we used to dry clothes as well. This was a few yards from the tent. He said he was as tall, heavier and enough was enough. We understood. Captive jaguars are difficult to read. I saw two black males, one in a zoo and one in a circus. Both were just over 200 pounds and very powerful. The sense of power you get isn't a result of the short body, the large muscles and the extra-large skull only. It is something different. Jaguars in captivity are less afraid of humans. But my girlfriend, unaware of danger, was very close with another big black male in a rescue centre. He arm was round his neck when the director's wife came over screaming with all she had in order to warn her. The jaguar moved to her and closed his mouth with the force of a bomb. The next moment he was flirting with my girlfriend again. Him like her, but he didn't hide his feelings for the director's wife either. Both emotions were shown in a fraction of a second. Jaguars like you or they don't. They are a bit like the big white bears. When they don't like you, they will kill you whenever possible. Stubborn and one-tracked, but less treacherous than brown bears or tigers who will never tell you what they really think. Tigers and brown bears are different from jaguars and lions. A jaguar, for attitude, is like a lion, but more one-tracked, more stubborn, more wild at heart and definitely more willing to engage odds. Very confident animals, they are. In European zoos, they have a bad reputation. I saw different skulls of females killed by their mates during courtship. Jaguars use skull bites to kill each other as well. Jaguars are quite clinical, whereas the other big cats, in my opinion, are more aggressive. But confidence and aggressiveness are two different things. A jaguar who's made up his mind isn't going to back down, whereas lions and tigers could, perhaps, be convinced. Male leopards are not as strong, but, like tigers, more skillful killers. A few seconds is all they need. Different trainers said they compare to psychopaths when enraged. And then there is bears. They like to play with you first. So what's it going to be?
Nice info Peter.
About beats, I am reading more and more about Polar Bears. They are very tiger like, it seems. Impossible to read their emotions and to tell what they will do. Trainers say they just walk and sway their long neck and head back n forth never giving you any signs of what they are thinking. Outside of the point, but still interesting. |
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