Jaguar Predation

[epaiva]

(08-31-2020, 08:00 PM)Balam Wrote: @epaiva thanks a lot for that information, it's fascinating to see this dynamic of jaguars hunting equids, especially because equids were thought to be part of the diet of jaguars during the Pleistocene in both North and South America before they went extinct 8,000 years ago. I read on a book about Llanos history that on the Venezuelan side alone there was an estimated 300,000 horses roaming free, my guess is that I'd you add Colombia the population was probably at around half a million a few centuries ago. This huge concentration of large ungulates skin to what is seen in Africa could very well explain why the historic sizes for Llanos jaguars were so big, and why I don't think that the claim of the male shot in Cojedes who allegedly weighed 180 kg is necessarily unfounded. If some jaguars managed to actively hunt 300+ kg horses on a regular basis, then of course they'd grow enormous.

Base on the books and studies I have read on Llanos wild horses, they seem to have developed a ton of anti-depredatory measures to fend off cougar and jaguar attacks, including living in very large herds to more easily spot danger, and avoid congregating near the gallery forests (especially at night) where the jaguars recide. I'll go into more detail about it once I have more time, but this dynamic is fascinating as I said. Lions in Africa aren't the only big cats bringing down equids.

In the Venezuelan Llanos you find a wild horse named Caballo Criollo, people who live and work in Los Llanos use them because they are the only horses that can live with out problems in the extremely hard conditions of Los Llanos Reply