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The Llanos Jaguar

Canada Balam Offline
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#16

Pajarote, resident Aurora male that hasn't been seen in years, alongside unknown female


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*This image is copyright of its original author

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*This image is copyright of its original author


Credits to Panthera
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Canada Balam Offline
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#17
( This post was last modified: 11-18-2020, 05:51 AM by Balam )

Female resting, Hato La Aurora Reserve


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By Jabiru Tours
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Canada Balam Offline
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#18

Aniceto male, la Aurora

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#19

Jaguars from this video:

• Faculto, in the grassland and laying next to Totin by the marsh
• Totin, seen mating with Faculto and Mararay male, alongside her cub Lulu and killing an anaconda
• Mararay
• Lulu

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#20

Habitat Bank of Meta - First in Colombia and Latin America

With a private investment of 1.5 million dollars, in December 2016 the first Habitat Bank in Colombia and Latin America was launched. The project is located in the municipality of San Martín de los Llanos in the department of Meta, in the sub-basin of the Metica River. To ensure effective offsets, it is expected that the Habitat Bank - Meta will secure permanent and sustainable conservation results for a 30 years term. In this way, it will be possible to achieve the restoration of degraded ecosystems and the conservation of the natural forest. Finally, it aims to reduce the costs of biodiversity compensations for companies, which would be reflected in a highly profitable investment, which guarantees the sustainability of the property.


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Canada Balam Offline
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#21
( This post was last modified: 11-28-2020, 10:22 AM by Balam )

REPOST: Similarities in size between two large males from the Llanos (Caricare) & Pantanal (Sossego)

120 + kg estimated Caricare next to Totin female


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130 kg Sossego next to Jeffa female


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Credits to Aurora Reserve & Claudia Ferreira
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Canada Balam Offline
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#22

Predatory behavior and kill rate of a female jaguar (Panthera onca) on cattle
By Wlodzimierz Jedrzejewski, Hugo Cerda, Ángel Viloria, Jose Gertrudes Gamarra & Krzysztof Schmidt.

Abstract: 

Killing   behavior   and   consumption   rate   are   important  components  that  determine  the  final  preda-tion  rate.  We  studied  the  predatory  behavior  of  a  female  jaguar  with  one  offspring  in  Hato  Piñero  in  Venezuelan  Los  Llanos.  Seven  carcasses  of  freshly  killed  calves  were  found over a period of 9 days. Automatic video recording was  used  to  document  the  jaguar’s  behavior.  Our  study  revealed  a  detailed,  repetitive  sequence  of  female  jaguar  behavior  while  hunting  for  calves.  The  sequence  started  with the female killing a calf by biting through the skull or neck, then she dragged the carcass to concealment, evis-cerated it and left it concealed; then, the next evening, the female returned with its cub, fed intermittently for a total time of about 90 min while in the meantime it hunted for new prey. All this sequence seems to have a highly adap-tive  significance  for  a  female  jaguar  rearing  cubs  and  utilizing large prey. During the short period of our obser-vations,  the  estimated  kill  rate  of  the  female  jaguar  with  one offspring was from 0.67 to 1 calf per day. Proper cattle management  is  necessary  to  avoid  high  losses  of  calves  from predation by jaguars. 

Depredation  of  livestock  by  jaguars  (Panthera onca Linnaeus  1758)  often  results  in  the  retaliatory  killing  of  this  predator by farmers, and is thus regarded as one of the most important  reasons  behind  the  decline  of  the  species  range  (Rabinowitz  1986,  Quigley  and  Crawshaw  1992,  Gonzalez-Fernandez 1995, Hoogesteijn et al. 2002, Silveira et al. 2008, Jedrzejewski  et  al.  2011).  Therefore,  any  information  that  can  increase  our  understanding of the mechanisms  deter-mining the jaguar predation rate of livestock is important, as it can help in developing methods to minimize the conflict. Killing behavior and consumption  rate  are  important  components  of  the  predation  process.  

In  this  article,  we  report  on  observations  of  the  killing  and  foraging  behavior  of  an  adult female jaguar with a half-grown cub in a cattle ranch in Venezuela. We also attempted to estimate her killing rate. The  study  was  conducted  on  a  private  ranch,  “Hato  Piñero”  (8°56′  N,  68°04′  W),  located  in  the  region  of  Los  Llanos  in  the  Cojedes  state  of  Venezuela,  in  the  hills  of  Macizo de El Baul and plains, between the rivers Cojedes, Portuguesa,  and  Pao.  We  worked  there  from  the  13th  to  15th and from the 17th to 23rd of October 2009. Every day, we  looked  for  jaguar  tracks  while  driving  on  a  dirt  road  at the side of the group of eight paddocks that contained the cows and calves. A stream with forested banks flowed through  the  central  paddock  with  the  highest  number  of  calves. Jaguars that killed a calf inside a paddock usually dragged the carcass across the road to the forest, leaving tracks and signs of dragging on the road. When we found jaguar  tracks  and  signs  of  prey  dragging,  we  followed  them trying to locate the site where the prey was hidden. After locating a prey carcass, we examined it for signs of killing and consumption by jaguar and scavengers. Then, we set two Pix-Controller camera traps (PixController Inc., Export, PA, USA). We attempted to set the cameras at four prey  sites;  however,  owing  to  technical  problems  with  the  cameras,  we  only  managed  to  record  jaguars  at  two  sites, and only at one site did the cameras properly record jaguar behavior for the whole night.

During 9 days of our work, we found seven carcasses of calves killed by a jaguar. Six of them were found in the forest  on  the  side  of  the  central  paddock  with  a  stream  with  forested  banks.  Tracks  found  on  the  road  indicated  that  all  six  calves  were  killed  by  the  same  female  jaguar  leading one cub. One prey was found on the side of another paddock, at a distance of about 1.6 km from the other six carcasses,  and  it  was  not  clear  if  that  prey  was  killed  by  the  same  jaguar.  Only  in  one  case  did  the  jaguar  kill  two  calves (Figure 1) on the same night. In all other cases, we found only one fresh prey. In most cases, the tracks found on the road were only those of the female, indicating that she was hunting alone. Tracks found closer to hidden car-casses were always of both – the female and the cub.All calves found were freshly killed and almost intact at their first localization. Three of them had clear teeth marks at  the  posterior  part  of  the  head,  and  in  three  others,  the  upper  and  back  parts  of  the  head  (brain)  and  part  of  the  neck  were  eaten.  Remarkably,  every  kill  was  eviscerated  and no intestines were found in its vicinity, suggesting that the  jaguar  had  eaten  them.  Interestingly, in four carcasses we found only a small opening in the abdomen, but still all the intestines were removed. Most kills, except one that was hidden inside the paddock, were moved by the jaguar from the killing site to concealment at a distance of 50–80 m from the fence or 250–300 m from the central part of the paddock.

Our visits to the prey sites in the following days indicated that the jaguars came back to the site where the prey was hidden the next night after killing it and utilized the carcass  only  for  one  night,  consuming  most  of  it  (in  the  case  of  four  small  newborn  calves)  or  more  than  half  of  it  (in  the  case  of  two  bigger  calves).  Only  in  the  case  of  the distant carcass, found far from the other six preys, the jaguars did not come back at all. The parts of carcass that were  usually  left  were  the  legs,  backbone,  head  or  parts  of  it,  and  in  the  case  of  the  two  larger  calves,  the  whole  posterior  part  of  the  prey.  After  the  jaguars  left  (usually  around the early morning of the second day after killing), black vultures (Coragyps atratus Bechstein 1793) and foxes (Cerdocyon  thous  Linnaeus  1776)  utilized  the  carcass.  On  the third day, the remains of the carcass became decayed and  were  covered  with  large  numbers  of  insect  larvae.  Only in the case of two calves killed on the same night did the jaguars come back to eat the prey for two consecutive nights (up to the third night after killing).

During  the  continuous  automatic  video  recording  at  the  calf  carcass  on  the  night  of  19th/20th  October  2009  (the  second  night  after  killing  that  prey),  the  presence  of  jaguars was recorded from 18:45 to 04:54 (Figure 1). During that  night,  the  jaguars  utilized  the  carcass  intermittently  with the female appearing at the site five times and the cub six times (Table 1). 


*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Continuous bouts of visits by the female lasted  from  2  to  62  min  (mean  18  min),  and  those  of  the  cub from 1 to 50 min (mean 16 min). The total time that the female  was  present  around  the  prey  was  90  min,  and  for  68 min of that she was recorded to be eating. The cub was present for 94 min, eating the prey for 50 min. Most of the time, the female and the cub stayed at the kill site together (Figure  1);  however,  for  25%  of  the  time,  the  cub  was  left  alone and the female was recorded without the cub for 14% of  the  time.  The  majority  of  the  jaguar  activity  at  the  kill  site was foraging, with the female starting first by plucking hairs  to  gain  access  to  the  meat.  An  additional  behavior  recorded  was  play.  The  female  spent  4%  of  time  playing  with  the  cub  and  the  cub  played  15%  of  the  time  in  total,  either with the mother or with objects such as the camera.The distribution and sequence of kills, the rate of their utilization by jaguars, and recorded tracks indicated a repet-itive pattern of behavior: (1) killing a calf inside the paddock close  to  the  stream,  which  ensured  better  concealment;  (2)  dragging  the  carcass  to  concealment;  (3)  eviscerating  the  calf, eating the intestines, and leaving it concealed until the next night; (4) the next night, feeding on the carcass together with  the  cub  in  five  to  six  short  bouts;  and  (5)  hunting  for  a  new  prey,  while  leaving  the  cub  with  the  carcass.  The  recorded  behavior  of  the  female  jaguar  with  one  offspring can lead to the conclusion that she attempted to hunt a new prey  every  night  over  the  short  period  of  our  study.  This  would give some maximum estimate of the kill rate equal to one calf per day. Based only on the six calves that were killed close to the central paddock and found by us over the period of 9 days, we can calculate that the minimum kill rate of that female was 0.67 kills/day or 1 kill/1.5 days. 

The sequence of the female jaguar predatory behavior from killing through concealing and consuming recorded in our study has, in general, matched the pattern known in other large or medium-sized felids recorded for natural prey  (Okarma  et  al.  1997,  Sunquist  and  Sunquist  1989,  2002).  However,  our  study  documented  a  more  detailed,  repetitive   sequence   of   female   jaguar   behavior   while   hunting for cattle. All components of this sequence seem to  have  highly  adaptive  significance  for  a  female  jaguar  rearing cubs. It seems to be directed at ensuring continu-ous provision of food for offspring and for herself (killing and utilization of two different prey overlapping in time), avoiding  fast  decay  (evisceration),  ensuring  safety  from  humans, and avoiding competition with scavengers (drag-ging the prey to concealment).

Among  large  carnivores,  killing  prey  by  direct  perfo-ration  of  skull  is  unique  for  the  jaguar  and  is  a  result  of  the  jaguar’s  extremely  strong  and  powerful  mandibles  and  canines  (Meachen-Samuels  and  Van  Valkenburgh  2009,  Del  Moral  Sachetti  et  al.  2011).  Prey  evisceration  by  jaguars  was  recorded  in  several  studies  (Schaller  and  Vasconcelos  1978,  Hoogesteijn  and  Mondolfi  1992,  Craw-shaw  and  Quigley  2002).  However,  an  interesting  aspect  of this behavior noticed in our study and not mentioned in the literature is the precise evisceration of prey through a small opening in the abdomen.The  high  kill  rate  of  the  female  jaguar  recorded  by  us  can  be  partially  explained  by  the  fairly  small  body  mass  of  newborn  calves.  In  Hato  Piñero,  it  is  on  average  35  kg,  which is much less than the jaguar body mass (Scognamillo et al. 2003). Additionally, the fast rate of meat decay in Hato Piñero and intensive scavenging by vultures and foxes could have also been influencing the kill rate of that female. There was no indication that our presence had any important effect on  her  kill  rate  and  killing  behavior.  

The  high  kill  rate  that  we  observed  may  also  be  explained  as  a  temporal  increase  in  hunting  effort  of  the  female  jaguar  in  order  to  rear  the  cub. Similar increase has been documented for female lynx (Okarma et al. 1997). It should be emphasized, however, that it is difficult to draw conclusions based on our observations about the long-term kill rate of reproducing jaguar females or about  the  total  effect  of  female  jaguar  predation  over  cattle  populations.  The  kill  rate  of  a  radio-collared  jaguar  female  with one cub reported by Cavalcanti and Gese (2010) in Pantanal was one large prey per 3.6 days. Only few authors have documented a kill rate by female jaguars equally high as in our study (Brock 1963, Almeida 1986).
Several factors may reduce the final predation impact of female jaguars on cattle. First, the number of reproducing females is limited by their territorial behavior. Accord-ing  to  Scognamillo  et al.  (2003)  and  Polisar  et al.  (2003),  during  their  studies  inside  Hato  Piñero,  there  were  four  adult  females.  Second,  jaguar  females  reproduce  usually  every   second   year   (Hoogesteijn   and   Mondolfi   1992). Finally, in developed Venezuelan  ranches, the calving season, with high availability of newborn calves, is fairly short (90–120 days). 

Some  of  the  behavioral  components  of  the  jaguar  female  predation  observed  by  us  in  Hato Piñero  are  pos-sible  to  modify  in  order  to  prevent  high  losses.  Limiting  accessibility  of  calves  for  jaguars  by  proper  location  of  nurseries  (especially  locating  them  far  from  streams  and  forests), shortening of calving season, and electric fencing are  among  the  most  important  preventing  measures  that  have  been  also  proposed  by  other  authors  (Quigley  and  Crawshaw  1992,  Hoogesteijn  et  al.  1993,  2002,  Michalski  et  al.  2006,  Azevedo  and  Murray  2007,  Hoogesteijn  and  Hoogesteijn 2010, Hoogesteijn and Hoogesteijn 2011).
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Canada Balam Offline
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#23

Cattle faces Totin female, an example of coexistence between livestock and jaguars


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Credits to Aurora Reserve
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Venezuela epaiva Offline
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#24

(11-09-2020, 12:53 AM)Balam Wrote:
The Llanos (Orinoco plains)

Wide grasslands stretching across northern South America and occupying western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. The Llanos have an area of approximately 220,000 square miles (570,000 square km), delimited by the Andes Mountains to the north and west, the Guaviare River and the Amazon River basin to the south, and the lower Orinoco River and the Guiana Highlands to the east. Britannica Encyclopedia.


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Landscape and Fauna:


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Neil Palmer

Tuparro National Park, Colombia


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Carolina H


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Rodrigo Gaviria

Hato El Cedral, Venezuela


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barloventomagico

Hato la Aurora, Colombia


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Alejandro Calderón


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Alfonso Giraldo

Characteristics of the Llanos jaguar:

Excerpt from BODY MASS AND SKULL MEASUREMENTS IN FOUR JAGUAR POPULATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR PREY BASE
by Rafael Hoogesteijn and Edgardo Mondolfi

The third sample consists of jaguars from the Llanos or floodplains of Venezuela (Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi 1993b, this study). The Llanos of Venezuela is a large, low lying savanna region that comprises much of the northern and western regions of the Orinoco River drainage basin in Venezuela and Colombia (Thorbjarnarson 1991). The jaguar population inhabiting this region is currently included in the same subspecies as the Amazon jaguar (P. onca onca).

The sex difference for the Llanos is 56%. Also the differences for skull measurements between males and females were greater for the Llanos (between 17 and 19%) compared with the other groups, where differences oscillated between 10% and 13%. There is apparently a higher degree of sexual dimorphism in the Llanos population than elsewhere.

A sample of six stomach contents from the Llanos of Venezuela gave an estimated MWVP of 98 kg, including domestic stock (Mondolfi and Hoogesteijn 1986). A larger sample (18 stomach contents) from the same area gave an MWVP value of 50 kg, where cattle remains occurred in 56 percent ofthe sample (Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi 1993a, b).

Today, the largest jaguars persist in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso (P. onca paraguensis) and the Llanos of Venezuela (P. onca onca), both foodplain areas (the Llanos nearer to the Equator) that are widely, separated but possess some similar ecological features. Both are flooded 5 -6 months of the year, covered in part with extensive gallery and semideciduous forests and have to a certain extent a similar preybase (Schaller and Crawshaw 1980; Crawshaw and Quigley 1991; Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi 1993a). 

Some questions arise regarding the size reduction that this felid underwent from the Pleistocene to the present and the actual large sizes of individuals from the two floodplain populations. These larger jaguars could represent descendants that maintained their larger size due to the better feeding conditions in the floodplain. On the other hand, local populations could have become bigger from the year 1,600 A.D. onwards, with the introduction of plentiful and vulnerable prey such as feral cattle, calves and horse foals. These prey constitute a sizable part of their diet; cattle constituted 38,48 and 56% of stomach contents or kills in three studies, two in the Pantanal and one in the Llanos (Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi 1993b). These changes in size show the great adaptability of this efficient predator of the neotropical forest vertebrates. 

Most current studies relate jaguars to forested areas, but at the beginning of this century, with less human encroachment, jaguars still lived in open areas, like the Argentinean Pampas, where they sought cover in the high grass patches near lagoons and streams, areas practically devoid of forests (Canevari 1983). Also, jaguars lived in the lower Llanos areas where only small strips of gallery forests at the edge of rivers and temporary streams existed between enormous savanna expanses (Hoogesteijn and Mondolfi 1993b). In both places, due to the lack of extensive cover, they were easily exterminated.

Male from Venezuela


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Roger Manrique

Colombian males from Hato La Aurora, where the largest and most intense jaguar tracking and studying is taking place in the region


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Female from the Tuparro National Park


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Very valuable information of Los Llanos, the best place to see Jaguars in the Venezuelan Llanos is Hato Pinero
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Canada Balam Offline
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#25
( This post was last modified: 11-29-2020, 07:04 AM by Balam )

@epaiva thanks for your acknowledgment! Please feel free to share with us content from the Venezuelan Llanos, unfortunately jaguar footage from there is very scarce but I know the Hato Piñero is an iconic place in the entire eco-region to observe them and pictures of them would be greatly appreciated!

We've seen this set of footage from Faculto male multiple times but he looks too good in this angle not to post here.


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Faculto has a very long body and tail, his body in my opinion resembles a lot that of a tiger. A gorgeous specimen who I estimate weights between 110 and 120 kg.

Credits to Ricardo Ortiz
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#26

Camara traps pictures released by the Tuparro National Park is celebration of the International Jaguar Day, with roaring of the jaguars registered in the park on the background;

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#27

HAPPY NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL JAGUAR DAY.


Mariposa female

credits: Panthera Colombia

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#28
( This post was last modified: 12-01-2020, 07:09 PM by Balam )

"He said to @aguadulce_coralina: Calm down, let's not despair. There is a possibility but most likely we will not see them.

Life had taught me that jaguars are elusive, discreet beings ... Myths if you will. They are but are never seen. You will find their tracks, feces, even recently attacked prey. But to them? Never ... That is the privilege of few. However, it was the day it was, at the time it was, where it was. And yes, there she was, so calm, lying with her two young.

It feels? Hard to describe. I just know that after that one can die in peace.

Jaguars are one of the most magical animals that guard our forests. Divine to many cultures, admired by some of us, feared and persecuted by others. Today is #diainternacionaldeljaguar and on 5-22 we wanted to tell you this story.

In the photos:

1. Cub of about 1 year in the sun.


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2. Adult male stalking cattle.


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3. Female with the other cub, also 1 year old.


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4. That male, when he saw us.


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All photos in Hato La Aurora, #Casanare - #Colombia. In two different years. 2 chances, and I got to see 6 jaguars ... That story is not told twice. Always in the memories of @faunactiva
@ saritaeche05 Ana María, Diana and Johnatan."

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Canada Balam Offline
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#29

Male from Hato Piñero, Venezuela


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By Hatos Venetur
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Canada Balam Offline
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#30

Librao large male, La Aurora


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By La Aurora Reserve
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