IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Jedrzejewski, W.; Cerda, H.; Viloria, A.; Gamarra, J.G.; Schmidt, K. | |
| Predatory behaviour and kill rate of a female jaguar (_Panthera onca_) on cattle | |
| 2014 Mammalia (78): 235-238 | |
Killing behavior and consumption rate are important components that determine the final predation rate. We studied the predatory behavior of a female jaguar with one offspring in Hato Pi¤ero 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 startes with the female killing a calf by biting through the skull or neck, then she dragged the carcass to concealment, eviscerated 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 adaptive significance for a female jaguar rearing cubs and utilizing large prey. During the short period of our observations, 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. |
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