Jaguar Directory

[Balam]

NORTHERN PANTANAL

Important clarifications to make regarding relatedness of certain jaguars in the Pantanal.

Despite misconceptions, Iko and Katu are not siblings or related in any form, this was cleared out by the genetic testing performed on them when Panthera captured them, shown in the book Jaguars of the Northern Pantanal:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is a very interesting dynamic among male jaguars, that similar to male lions, are able to form coalitions even when both males are not closely related. Furthermore, it is interesting to witness the high levels of tolerance unrelated males have with each other to the point that they will share kills (i.e. Ramses and Aju).

Another misconception to clear out is who "Holyfield" male is, which we know based on the Jaguar ID Guide to be another alias for Katu/Peter male. Some photographers seemed to have confused "Holyfield" with the jaguar Hopkins and given him that title instead. Here I'm posting the profile of Hopkins for reference:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Hopkins fought with Geoff once for access to a female, and that's where that very famous picture of him growling and exposing his large canines comes from. Reply