Jaguar: Another Threatened Panther

Abstract

This document is Fact Sheet WEC 167, one of a series of the Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Originally published in cooperation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Nongame Wildlife Program. Publication date: May 2003.
 WEC 167/UW176: Jaguar: Another Threatened Panther (ufl.edu)

Inside a jaguar's jaws

“…But these traits somehow contrast with jaguars’ ethos, as portrayed by some zoologists. Jaguars, according to zoological science, are solitary and opportunistic hunters, stalking and ambushing through refined, smooth movements that allow them to get extremely close to their prey without being detected (Mahler, 2009; Novack & Main, 2003; Rabinowitz & Nottingham, 1986). “Jaguars,” says Alan Rabinowitz, a world authority on this feline, “never rush into something.…”

“…While there is no doubt that a hungry jaguar could devour meat and bones without leaving a single trace, to make a whole human body disappear would require a significant and systematic effort because jaguars do not often eat their prey all at once but instead return to consume the parts at different times (Brown & López González, 2001; Novack & Main, 2003; Rabinowitz, 2000). Moreover, they eat neither guts nor teeth (Mahler, 2009; Shepherd et al., 2014).…”