Jaguars of Northern South America

[Balam]

(04-07-2021, 04:33 AM)Acinonyx sp. Wrote: @Balam 

Interesting post.Excellent finds
Is there any evidence for these jaguars being renowned buffalo killers?
Thank you.

Quite a lot actually, I'm going to copy parts of a post I made last year talking about it:

"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 sometimes 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 pass 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

[i]Rates of predation before and after fences were put into place.[/i]
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)."

Then there are these news reports, also from the same region:

"According to the article, several buffalos have been found dead due to jaguar predation in different ranches. They registered 11 buffalo, one horse, and four goat kills.
"Sin embargo, el jaguar sí es reconocido por su predilección por los búfalos, camuros, picures, tinajos y otras especies." (however, jaguars are known for their preference for buffalo, goat, agouti, pacas, and other species)
Source"

*This image is copyright of its original author

"En una finca de cría de búfalos a orillas del departamento de Santander se encontraron tres cadáveres de búfalas adultas. Los propietarios y empleados de esta explotación ubicada en jurisdicción del municipio de Puerto Parra, quedaron estupefactos ante el hallazgo de los cuerpos parcialmente depredados." [b](At a buffalo ranch in the borders of the Santander provice were found three carcasses of adult buffalo cows. The owner and employees of this ranch located in the town of Puerto Parra were amazed at the finding of the bodies partially eaten)[/b]
[b]Source"[/b] Reply