There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
--- Peter Broekhuijsen ---

  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports

Canada Balam Offline
Jaguar Enthusiast
*****
#61
( This post was last modified: 06-09-2020, 05:58 AM by Balam )

CONCLUSIONS FROM PANTHERA LIVE:

This doesn't really touch specifically on Brazil, but it's valuable information gathered by the said seminar with Rafael Hoogeteijn and Panthera regarding the coexistence between jaguars, cougars, and ranchers in the region.

The Panthera team focused its study of anti-depredatory measures in the region of Middle Magdalena in Colombia (the same region where the alleged 136+kg cattle killer jaguar was from, and the confirmed 110 kg). This particular region is extremely important for jaguars because it signifies a major crossroads between populations from North and South America, it's a key area for the preservation of the genetic diversity of the species. Jaguars are considered umbrella species as their presence usually signifies a healthy biome and ecosystem where other endangered and key species such as the manatees benefit from. The team of Panthera showed three jaguars, one male and two different females from the area caught through camera tracking:


*This image is copyright of its original author

The team later worked with a multitude of ranches in the surrounding provinces to instill anti-depredatory measures to decrease the rate of predation by big cats on livestock. 55 ranches in total were part of the experiment.

Among the consumption and attack patterns, horses were identified as the species that survived the most predatory attacks although some times enduring bad wounds. Cougars were found to attack and target horses at a higher rate than jaguars.

The most interesting part might be that buffalo was among the most attacked and killed livestock by jaguars. In one specific ranch, jaguars killed 17 buffaloes. The attacks on them were classical of jaguar predation, with skull-crushing and consumption from the ribcage and down:


*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

To stop these attacks, not only on buffaloes but cattle too, the Panthera team supplied ranchers with electric fences that were powered by solar panels. The fences were positioned in a way that a big cat couldn't past under them but that smaller species such as turtles would have no problem moving through. The results were the following:


*This image is copyright of its original author

Buffaloes being caged in electric fence


*This image is copyright of its original author

Rates of predation before and after fences were put into place.

As can be seen, by the chart above, predation was dramatically reduced by the implementation of fences. The few attacks on Buffaloes and cattle reported were due to misuse of the fences by the ranchers (they weren't activating the electricity in the fences).

In that same area through camera trapping, they reported another jaguar they named Lucas:


*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

He can be seen here with a female, showcasing that reproduction might be taking place in the area:


*This image is copyright of its original author

And here, camera traps captured a female jaguar and a cougar:

*This image is copyright of its original author


They explained that jaguars hunt all available prey from all ages, including bulls. Rafael claimed that predation on 400 kg bulls had been documented before. Buffalo predation in areas such as the Venezuelan Llanos is more scarce, being 25% lower than that of cattle due to their nature of being a more collective and hostile bovine.

As part of their anti-depredatory measures, the use of certain breeds of cattle has proven successful. To be specific, certain breeds from Colombia and Brazil that have ties or are direct descendants of Spanish fighting bulls who evolved in the region and learned to fends off jaguar attacks. Here there's a picture of a bull with multiple claw marks from failed predatory attempts by jaguars in the past:


*This image is copyright of its original author

Predation on goat and sheep have been reported by cougars and Andean bears all across their range, the use of vigilante dogs has greatly helped in reducing losses:


*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

They also gave some context as to the extent of the damage caused by the mass hunting of jaguars in the previous century. Rafael said that jaguars had been almost exterminated by the 70s, 31k skins of jaguars were exported to the US alone during that time. He claimed that jaguars are just starting to recover from that massacre.

They pointed out how tourism in areas such as Pantanal are helping in the preservation of jaguars and simultaneously providing employment and enriching the local economy. In one specific area of Porto Joffre, Pantanal, there were 7 million dollars in gains in one year from jaguar tourism, while the losses from jaguars were only 121k after the anti-depredatory measures mentioned before were taken into place.

Finally, Rafael said that the heaviest jaguar he had known of was a specimen from the Venezuelan Llanos in an area called Rosario who weighed 149 kg, this was in 1959. He explained how the sizes of the jaguars are a direct reflection of the biomass of prey available as well as their quantities, reiterating that floodplains jaguars are the biggest.
5 users Like Balam's post
Reply




Messages In This Thread
RE: Jaguars of Brazil - Dynamics,Lifestyle,Datas,Studies,Reports - Balam - 06-09-2020, 05:49 AM



Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)

About Us
Go Social     Subscribe  

Welcome to WILDFACT forum, a website that focuses on sharing the joy that wildlife has on offer. We welcome all wildlife lovers to join us in sharing that joy. As a member you can share your research, knowledge and experience on animals with the community.
wildfact.com is intended to serve as an online resource for wildlife lovers of all skill levels from beginners to professionals and from all fields that belong to wildlife anyhow. Our focus area is wild animals from all over world. Content generated here will help showcase the work of wildlife experts and lovers to the world. We believe by the help of your informative article and content we will succeed to educate the world, how these beautiful animals are important to survival of all man kind.
Many thanks for visiting wildfact.com. We hope you will keep visiting wildfact regularly and will refer other members who have passion for wildlife.

Forum software by © MyBB