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.
Repost of my second post ever in this forum on the dynamics of these 2 beasts.
In this video the creator of the Onçafari Project Mario Haberfeld interviews the Project's coordinator Lilian Rampim about Fantasma and Xavier. posted in early 2015.
Lilian Rampim: - ''Fantasma is a very old male Jag and he was the first Male Jag to get habituated in the Refúgio Ecológico Caiman Reserve and his personal feat was that he was a very confident male Jag that was very comfortable even with the car's presence, I think by the fact he was a dominant male he had quite confidence, we saw him most of the times laying with his belly up and very calm and he showed up in every cameras, he was a jaguar who patolled this entire region. ''
Mario Haberfeld - ''Fantasma was one of the jaguars we liked the most in the Onçafari project just like Lilian said we followed him many times sleeping next to the car we followed him hunting a Tapir, he ate it all in three nights without minding our presence But in October 2013 was the last time we saw him around the reserve, what must've happened?''
Lilian Rampim: - ''Its a huge coincidence because in early October 2013 we had one sighting of Fantasma and in mid October 2013 we met and spotted a new male jaguar in the reserve and we nicknamed him Xavier. Since then Xavier was regularly spotted patrolling in every place Fantasma used to and we didn't have any register of Fantasma anymore we got a few theories one of which is that Xavier being a younger, more robust and stronger male he might have dethroned and expelled Fantasma from the area, Xavier is also seen very often mating with the females from the Caiman reserve, he also got that feat of a very confident jaguar, we believe that this behavior of such confidence is a characteristic of dominant males Jaguars and since then we got no more news of Fantasma and we gotta work with all the possibilities either Fantasma left to rule a smaller area with less competition or he died by natural causes since he was a very old jaguar or he may have died in a fight against Xavier. So far we have no news of Fantasma and we're still expecting every time we grab the camera traps to see if he was spotted passing by.''
Mario Haberfeld: - ''Unfortunately its been a long time already and our hopes of spotting Fantasma alive is starting to shrink but its a natural thing given the fact the datas tell us that a wild Jag can live around 14 years and we thought Fantasma was around 12/13 years old so we were sad about it but its something that happens and just to clear up Xavier male it could be either in a fight or whatever other case he took over Fantasma's territory and he is now the male we follow here and he'll probably be the father of the next generation of wild jags here at Refúgio Ecológico Caiman. ''