With the repercussion of the case of the jaguar that killed the homemade Jorge Ávalo, 60, in late April, in Mato Grosso do Sul, the eyes turned to the characteristics of the feline and how the environment influences various aspects of the animal.
The feline who devoured the man is a male jaguar and was captured by the Environmental Military Police on the 21st of this month in the Pantanal, three days after the attack. After the capture, the jaguar was washed to the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center (CRAS) and on site was found by veterinarians that it had 26kg below the normal weight of the species.
In an interview with CNN Alan Eduardo de Barros, PhD in Ecology from the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo (IB-USP), said that the jaguars found in the biome could reach 130-150 pounds.
According to him, the jaguars of the species Panthera Onca Found in the Pantanal are very large and healthy due to the extensive offering of prey in the environment. “The Pantanal has a wide range of aquatic resources and various forest animals. If there are aquatic and terrestrial resources, the jaguar can take everything. However, there is still a past learning factor from mother to son.”
Alan explains that animals go through a learning process and that hunting can be influenced by it. For example, if an jaguar is taught by the mother to seek alligators, capybaras and fish, she will reproduce the practice until the time it is advantageous.
Still with the influence of learning, the jaguars need to adapt to natural occurrences. With the floods that occur in the Amazon, felines tend to climb trees. With this, many jaguars start to feed on monkeys, prey that are not common to felines, which shows a high flexibility in relation to the challenges imposed by nature.
In the Cerrado, the jaguars are still large and can reach 100 pounds, largely due to the availability of prey in the region. “Even with the difference in Cerrado and Pantanal environments, jaguars are still very robust. The fact that they do not need to move too much to seek resources also influence the size they have,” said the ecologist.
In Caatinga, the environment is more difficult for the survival of jaguars. Often they look for high places with rocks to hide, and feed on smaller prey. “The maximum registration I have in the biome is a 51-pound jaguar, which shows how the environment and the prey in it act directly to the size and weight of the feline.”
The jaguars are extinct in the pampa. According to Alan, this phenomenon is due to much of the natural actions of the environment, but there is still a great human influence on extinction, as there are several occurrences of animal hunting in the region.
The jaguars
For the doctor, the main difference of prades in relation to the painted is in the hioid bone, a small “U” bone that is located in the throat. In felines, he plays an important role with regard to the vocal of the animal. The large, represented by the genus Panthera have a more flexible hioid bone, which allows them to roar. The minors, on the other hand, have a more rigid hioid bone, which only allows them to purr or smooth.
In addition, he comments on the distinction of size between them. “The jaguar here in Brazil is very small. It is the size of a dog.”
In reaction to the adaptation of jaguars, they are characterized with more plasticity and tolerance in the face of human action in the regions in which they are present. According to Alan, the fact that they are smaller, much for the competition with the jaguar, favored them. “This (size) makes it easy for adaptation and they are more plastic with anthropic influence. They can even enter urban areas, which shows the flexibility of the feline.”
The high ability to adapt to different environments makes the jaguars have not yet been extinguished in any Brazilian biome.
In recent days, two cases of jaguar rescue has surfaced. A puppy jaguar Male, less than 90 days old, was rescued on the afternoon of last Friday (25) in the backyard of a residence located near the Horto Florestal of Assisi, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. The animal was found scared and showing signs of debilitation, raising the hypothesis of having separated from his mother.
Already on the morning of Monday (29) an adult jaguar was rescued after being run over at kilometer 87 of BR-153, located near São José do Rio Preto, in the interior of São Paulo.
Broader problem
The death of the caretaker due to the attack of the jaguar reflects a broader problem, according to the analyzes made by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). Studies demonstrate threats to jaguar resulting from the growing contact with human activities. Habitat loss and fragmentation, caused by the expansion of economic and infrastructure activities, are the main threats to conservation of the species.
This fragmentation results in greater proximity of jaguars with human populations and greater susceptibility to risk factors, such as run over and social and environmental conflicts. The retaliation for the predation of herds is a important cause of mortality For jaguars, especially in the Pantanal.
The case of the homemade homemade in Mato Grosso do Sul is under investigation, with analysis of routine images of animals and other evidence being performed to understand what happened.
*Under supervision
This content has been originally published in excess or lack of prey can define ounce size in Brazil; Understand on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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