Jaguar Predation

[Paleosuchus]

predation on a loggerhead sea turtle

"The loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus,
1758) is considered a highly migratory species,
distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters
(Bolten and Witherington, 2003; Wallace et al., 2010).
It is categorized as a vulnerable species by the IUCN
Red List, with the main threats being fisheries bycatch,
coastal development, commercial exploitation (e.g.
consumption of eggs), human disturbance (e.g. coastal
lighting) and climate change (Casale and Tucker, 2015).
However, the relative importance of these threats may
vary throughout the geographic distribution of the
species.
In Costa Rica sporadic nesting has been recorded
along the Caribbean coast (Piniak and Eckert, 2011)
including Pacuare, Playa Norte and Tortuguero beaches
(L. Fonseca, pers. comm.). Tortuguero beach hosts a
small population of loggerheads, characterized by very
low numbers of females nesting sporadically throughout
the year (Sea Turtle Conservancy, pers. comm.). At this
site, jaguar Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758) predation
upon nesting females could represent an additional
threat for this species, as predation has been documented
previously on the green turtle (Chelonia mydas Linnaeus,
1758), the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea Vandelli,
1761) and the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata
Linnaeus, 1766) (Arroyo-Arce and Salom-Pérez, 2015).
Herein, we present the first documented record of the
predation of a loggerhead by a jaguar in Tortuguero
National Park, Costa Rica.
Tortuguero National Park is located on the northeastern
Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (10o
32’28’’ N - 83o
30’08’’
W). The park encompasses approximately 29 km of
coastline, which extends from the Jalova River mouth
in the South, to the Tortuguero River mouth in the
North. The beach is bordered by Tropical Wet Forest
(Holdridge, 1969). Elevation ranges from zero to 311 m
above sea level. Average temperatures ranges from 25
to 30o
C, with a mean annual precipitation of 6,000 mm
(Bermúdez and Hernández, 2004).
Jaguar predation on marine turtles was incidentally
recorded at Tortuguero beach since 1956 by the Sea
Turtle Conservancy (Troëng, 2000), during their
long-term turtle monitoring activities. However, in
2005 a systematic study was established by Global
Vision International, who then entered into partnership
with Coastal Jaguar Conservation in 2012, to further
investigate this predator-prey interaction. Both study
teams carried out weekly surveys along the beach to 
record the number of predated turtles. Jaguar predation
was assumed upon the observation of unequivocal cues
(e.g. bite marks and puncture wounds on the skull or
neck, dragging evidence, jaguar tracks). For each jaguar
predation event, the marine turtle species and coordinates
were recorded. For a more detailed description of the
methodology see Veríssimo et al. (2012), Guilder et al.
(2015) and Arroyo-Arce and Thomson (2016).
On the 14 May 2014, a freshly predated loggerhead
was discovered at Tortuguero beach (10o
28’18.4’’ N
- 83o
27’57.9’’ W). The carcass was first encountered
at the edge of the beach, with bite marks on the neck
area of the animal, and jaguar tracks present around
the carcass. The following day, the carcass had been
dragged several meters into the vegetation adjacent to
the beach. The organs of the turtle had been partially
consumed, but the flippers and head of the animal were
still intact (Fig. 1).

*This image is copyright of its original author

To our knowledge, this constitutes the first documented
event of a loggerhead turtle predated by a jaguar, not
just at Tortuguero beach but also throughout its entire
geographical range. Since loggerhead nesting in the
study area occurs very infrequently (1-2 females
encountered per season; Sea Turtle Conservancy, pers.
comm.), the probability for an encounter between
loggerheads and jaguars, and therefore predation rate,
should be very low in comparison with the other species
of sea turtles that nest in larger numbers at the beach
(Arroyo-Arce and Salom-Pérez, 2015). In the absence
of additional evidence, it is difficult to ascertain the
effect of jaguar predation on the nesting population of
loggerhead turtles at Tortuguero beach."
http://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/24892/25870 Reply