Is Jaguar capable of killing big crocodiles ?

[Balam]

@Shadow that is why I left out the possibility that a big male from an area like los Llanos or Pantanal would be able to get the job done within land.

The most impressive feat by a jaguar on a crocodilian recorded is the already mentioned case of an Amazonian jaguar killing a 3,8 meter black caiman:

*This image is copyright of its original author

My guess is that most crocodilians are helpless in land because their nape and skull are completely exposed, and as you said they can't do much in terms of agility to fend of a dexterous animal like a big cat, out of which the jaguar is one of the felids with the most developed grappling abilities. If a large male can get on top of the crocodile and lock itself into the crocodile's nape there is little the reptile can do to fend it off, it may take a long for the kill to get done depending on the size of the crocodile but in my opinion the big cat would have the upper hand in the long run.

One of the reasons why we haven't seen much cases of interspecific conflict between Llanos jaguars and Orinoco crocodiles is due to the fact that latter has been subject to major hunting pressure and its numbers are very low nowadays despite conservation efforts. I'm sure that in previous centuries when those crocodiles were plentiful fights between the two must have unfolded but went unrecorded. Reply