Comparing Cats: A Discussion of Similarities & Differences

[Balam]

(10-14-2020, 09:21 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: There is an exception to the rule, there was a fight between a jaguar and puma, which were of similar sizes, and the jaguar ran away, so let's end it there, that a cougar can beat a jaguar of equal or smaller size, but not a much larger jaguar (like in the Pantanal):

The cougar is my second favorite cat and in no way am I trying to discredit it, cougars are some of the most powerful felids lb for lb, and for their size are capable of bringing down larger prey in proportion to their sizes who are in the same class as what lions and tigers hunt (moose, elk, adult wild horse). Certainly the largest individuals of their species can potential hold their grounds in a fight against a decently sized jaguar, but the initial point I tried to make is that in the instances where there is a large size difference the larger cat will unequivocally come on top. As impressive as cougars are they still don't match jaguars in terms of robustness in the places where they cohabit. As DJ showed before, in the Cerrado where cougars have been known to attain large sizes as well the hierarchy between both species is marked and clear, the same could be said of other grassland environments.

The video you posted is very popular and belongs to a staged scene in a movie that involved two females of each species from northern Mexico, it was not a real fight and if you pay close attention 60% of the time both cats appear to be playing rather than fighting. As stated before mutual respect between them does exist in the areas where jaguars are smaller and more similar in size to cougars, but as shown by the evidence, killings of cougars by jaguars is witnessed even in these areas.

Cougars have their own  impressive feats with other carnivores which involve the killing of similar or somewhat larger black bears and wolves, that is commendable on its own and shows that these cats demand respect and are far from pushovers. But to close this conversation, in my opinion a jaguar is still stronger lb for lb, and this isn't to take away form the cougar but is to the merit of the unique morphology of jaguars. Reply