Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports

[Dark Jaguar]

Atlantic Forest

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The Tapir that became a banquet in the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu - Brazil.

https://www.oeco.org.br/colunas/colunist...do-iguacu/

CENAP/ICMBio

Year: 2013

Jorge Pegoraro*

''I want to share with the readers of ((o))eco a story, one of those that nature tells, that occurred on a routine inspection day inside the forest of the Iguaçu National Park.

I work at the ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Nature Conservation), at the Iguaçu National Park, located in the extreme west of Paraná and known for its majestic waterfalls and the dense forest that covers its 185 thousand hectares.''

Aerial view of the Iguaçu Falls.

photo: Wikipedia

*This image is copyright of its original author

Some people imagine that working in a National Park is to be a "guardian of paradise".

I hear expressions such as: "ah, but you work in a beautiful place, this is what I want for my life, it must be very nice to work here? It must be very nice to work here?" It's true. But in this paradise is part of the animals' struggle for survival. We are there guarding and also learning.''

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The surprise

"Walking through "tracks" opened by hunters and palm gatherers, who unfortunately still insist in destroying what little remains of the Atlantic Forest of Paraná and Brazil, the park rangers of ICMBio came across a dead animal. It was a huge tapir (Tapirus terrestris) weighing approximately 150 kilos.

Had it been shot or poisoned? A deeper analysis by the experienced inspectors showed that the animal had been preyed upon by a big cat, certainly a jaguar.

Suspicious that the feline was still near the place of predation, because of the obvious "jaguar breath" that hovered over the site of the deadly battle, the inspectors decided to call the technicians of the Carnívoros do Iguaçú (currently called Onças do Iguaçú) project via radio.

They suspected that the feline would return to finish its meal, which, in fact, had not even begun. The technicians quickly followed the coordinates indicated by the inspectors, carrying all the necessary arsenal: rifle, anesthetics, radio collar, trap cameras and, of course, courage.

They set up camp near the indicated spot and had no choice but to wait for the much-awaited feast of the feline. After all, a large amount of fresh meat was waiting to be devoured.

Camera traps were strategically installed to register the great moment, all waiting for the majestic jaguar. It would be one more record for the history of these animals in the Park. Who knows, this jaguar might be an uncatalogued specimen, a healthy male or a pregnant female. The hope of the project biologists is to find in each expedition a new specimen in the Park, given the decline of these cats in the Atlantic Forest.''


King Vultures ''stole'' the jaguar's lunch.  

photo: Divulgação.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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