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Wow, excellent sightings at Pouso Allegre, really great stuff. Your Anteater experience reminds me of our tame Tapir Nina, also a "wild" animal rescued as a youngster and still coming back when grown up.

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Botswanadreams
1 hour ago, Alexander33 said:

what I considered to be our “real” adventure – the search for jaguars

 

Do you really had to search for Jaguars? I can't imagine after our experience a short time after your visit.

Thanks very much to schere your photos with us. They are very nice.   

 

 

 

Edited by Botswanadreams
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8 hours ago, Atdahl said:

Wow @Alexander33, not only did you have some great encounters but you got some fantastic pictures as well.  Your Chestnut-eared Aracari series is stunning as is your dual Red-billed Scythebill photo.  I had no luck with either in Brazil. Speaking of no luck, the only Howler Monkeys we saw either trip were blobs in far away trees and we never heard them (Did you?).  So, I am jealous of your sighting of the blond ones especially.

 

But, the daytime Tamandua takes the cake for me.  What a special encounter of this awesome looking creature.  It's obvious we didn't stay at Pouso Alegre long enough.  Although late morning coffee would drive me nuts too :).

 

At least you guys are well-served for coffee in Brazil!  As a tea-drinker I often struggled to find a decent brew at all! 

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On 11/11/2018 at 2:08 PM, kittykat23uk said:

 

At least you guys are well-served for coffee in Brazil!  

 

@kittykat23uk

 

Very true.  The coffee was great -- although the sweetened cream took some getting used to.  In fact, now that you mention it, our last six trips (Costa Rica twice, Brazil twice, East Africa twice) all were to places that have stellar coffee production. Hmmm, that's a common denominator I might need to explore on a more widespread basis.....  

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After our morning activities and lunch at Pouso Alegre, we loaded our bags into the vehicle and continued on down the Transpantaneira.  I told Tito that I had really hoped to see a scarlet-headed blackbird, and he indicated that there was a particular marsh with lots of cattails on the way to Porto Jofre that provided suitable habitat for them.  We’d check it out.

 

The Transpantaneira Highway has 122 wooden bridges, and the closer we got to the end, the more rickety they became, to the point that there were switchbacks at water level which had been created to circumvent a number of them.  Again, this is a dirt road, and I would imagine it would be impassable at times during the rainy season.

 

As we continued, Tito increasingly became animated.  This was his land, the area in which he had grown up and spent most of his life.  That was his grandfather’s farm.  This was his uncle’s.  And there, that was the place where he had been born.  I loved hearing Tito’s stories of his childhood, and it was gratifying to have such a knowledgeable local as our guide.  You could literally hear his joy as he described the area and the people he had known all his life who lived there.

 

In the last few years, his widowed mother had moved to town, and the extended family was now trying to operate the property as a small ecotourism lodge.  A photographer from my home state of Texas (whose name, unfortunately, Tito could not remember) had stayed there last year, and this year he had returned to work as a manager to see if the enterprise could succeed.  In return, he received free room and board (and the ability to pursue his photography in his spare time).  For now, the place looked pretty quiet.  Hmm….might not be a bad gig. 

 

Further down, the landscape opened up onto a large marsh, and Tito pulled over.  There, in the far distance, was a single scarlet-headed blackbird.  It was so far away that I knew the photos would be useless, even at 500mm on a crop-sensor camera. 

 

Just as I was about to give up, the bird took flight, came directly toward us, and landed at the top of a flowering stalk right beside us. Success! 

 

 

1128158965_Scartlet-headedBlackbirdIPSD.jpg.7be451be2556d6c5d55c6e06725e5524.jpg

 

 

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We arrived at Porto Jofre late in the afternoon.  From the references one hears of it, Porto Jofre sounds like a town.  In actuality, it’s really a piece of property owned by a family, where they have surrounded their house with duplex cabins (28 guest rooms) and a swimming pool.  There’s a dirt landing strip and some fuel tanks and…..that’s about it.  Formerly known as Hotel Porto Jofre, it’s now called Hotel Pantanal Norte.

 

 

Entrance.jpg.92bfb10ca3cb919ee505d9ebdd948a59.jpg

 

 

A lot of visitors stay in flotels, large boats with guest rooms, kind of like mini-cruise ships, docked at the river’s edge.  Promotional materials tout the flotels as being closer to the jaguars and all the action, but, as we would be spending our days on small motorboats, I wanted a place on terra firma where we could walk the grounds and have the opportunity to see things close up that we might otherwise miss.  As things turned out, this was a prescient decision.

 

A specific reason I wanted to stay at Hotel Pantanal Norte is because there is a pond behind the lodge where the giant Amazon waterlilies grow.  I’d seen these on travel posters and in photographs for years, and I wanted a firsthand look for myself. 

 

As soon as we had settled into our room (#20, with a river view), I grabbed a camera and my wide-angle lens and we joined Tito down at the pond to watch the sunset.

 

1052505330_AmazonWaterlilyIPSD.jpg.7ba65462416845679cf3c2d2939213b7.jpg

 

 

565970323_AmazonWaterlilyIIPSD.jpg.0e7fd7915c516522e4ce6ec8af1bd028.jpg

 

 

1372844963_AmazonWaterlilyIIIPSD.jpg.0183de66283918b00b2d61d2c79b9543.jpg

 

 

1184284728_AmazonWaterlilyIVPSD.jpg.91116d6d35670392cf500c484e496711.jpg

 

 

18470319_AmazonWaterlilyVPSD.jpg.d8f84a9f82fd64af3781b8b07e4b8c8f.jpg

 

 

At the pond (on another day)

 

Pond.jpg.cb5a64e7cc9b4c56651bbaf28183173a.jpg

 

 

Dinner was at 7:00 PM each evening, served buffet style (as at every place we’ve stayed in Brazil).  There was always a chicken dish, a beef dish, and fresh catfish (prepared in every conceivable way).  There was catfish parmigiana, catfish Milanese, catfish Alfredo.  My favorites were the catfish sautéed in tomato sauce and deep fried catfish strips.  Being a crass American, and from the gauche South no less, I drizzled the latter in ketchup.  Fried fish with a spicy red (or cocktail) sauce is a staple in Cajun cuisine, but since there was none of that, ketchup was the next best thing.  Eating it dry would have been reprehensible.

 

Oh, and there was plenty of decent wine and coffee on demand.  Perfect.

 

We turned in shortly after dinner.  For the next 5 days, we’d awake at 5:00 AM, have breakfast, and then be on the river by 6:00.  We’d return to the lodge for lunch at noon, then shower and rest a bit, before setting back out at 2:00 PM.  In other words, we would be spending 9-10 hours each day on the rivers in search of jaguars.  My kind of itinerary!

 

 

Edited by Alexander33
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We descended the stairs from the lodge down to the docks at dawn the next morning. 

 

The landing down to the docks (midday)

 

1067732350_IMG_7639(1).jpg.78c6a8b579ed954b6fd3d43488c9ad8b.jpg

 

 

Tito waved to us from one of the slips, and as we made our way toward him, I suddenly heard a chorus of, “Ohhhhh!” and gales of laughter.  I looked around, puzzled, and saw that all eyes were locked on me.  What?

 

Then I peered down, and……Oh. My. God.

 

The driver of the boat next to ours smiled and gave me the thumbs-up sign.  “Stepping in capybara poop brings good luck,” he assured me, nodding approvingly.

 

From the looks of things, by that measurement we were about to experience an abundantly productive day.

 

 

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Once my shoe was clean, I stepped aboard the boat supplied by our lodge – the Tayaman XXXVII.  Remember that name.  It will recur later in the story.

 

Tito was excited about our boat driver, Vanderlei, who had grown up on the river as a fisherman, as had his father and his grandfather before him  Vanderlei knew these waters like the back of his hand, expertly guiding through them to avoid shallow areas and occasional sandbanks.

 

We first explored some narrow waterways, and I was gratified to discover this American pygmy kingfisher.

 

101024241_AmericanPygmyKingfisher.jpg.ea5708529774e8866052bb84ff07cd06.jpg

 

 

There are 5 kingfisher species in the Pantanal.  Three are commonly found: the green, the ringed, and the Amazon.  We had seen these so many times at Barranco Alto back in 2016 that we didn’t bother stopping for them on this trip.  But the American pygmy kingfisher was a special find.  Now, only the fifth, and rarest of them all, remained: the green-and-rufous kingfisher.

 

Tito picked up the radio.  Jaguar! 

 

 

 

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We took off at a high speed, even passing by a family of giant river otters, and were rewarded by being only the second boat to arrive on the scene. 

 

It was a pair of young males, two cubmates a little more than a year old, who had separated from their mother but would remain together until they were old enough to mate, at which point they would permanently split.  For the time being, though, they had one another to rely on for survival.

 

As thrilled as I was, the situation was not ideal, as we were having to face into the sun and glare off the water.

 

756235055_Jaguar.Male(YoungBrotherPair).FirstSighting.I.jpg.5d045f12e8335a7b8cfb7073f16cc63e.jpg

 

 

828974845_Jaguar.Male(YoungBrotherPair).FirstSighting_II.jpg.f9c6d571b9262cd6177ef353a814573b.jpg

 

 

As the pair continued their way along the river bank, we slowly followed along, pausing when they paused. 

 

One of the brothers descended down to a slight ledge on the bank and sat down.  Vanderlei gunned the engine to get us in a better position, and in response, the engine sputtered…..and then…..died.

 

As the young jaguar sat on the ledge, posing, we sat idly, the boat rocking on the wake as other drivers, having no choice, maneuvered around us.  When the realization set in that we were going to miss the photo op, J., who was sitting in the row in front of me with the 80-400, popped off one shot – at 80mm.  In the frenzy, he hadn’t extended the zoom lens (something I’ve done more times than I care to recall, plus I hadn’t even bothered to try this time).

 

And then, just as quickly as it had come down to the ledge, the jaguar disappeared back into the dense thicket above.

 

Ugh. 

 

231590308_Jaguar.Male(YoungBrotherPair).FirstSightingJBII.jpg.92e0a76c1ff79e893638235a10666b8e.jpg

 

 

I tried to be philosophical about the situation.  Sometimes, things just happen.  This wasn’t anyone’s fault.  And even if we had been in position, the jaguar on the ledge had been heavily shaded and backlit.  It wouldn’t have been the best photo anyway.

 

Nevertheless, I could feel the increase in my blood pressure.  Stay positive, I told myself:  We had seen a jaguar.  No, actually, we had seen two jaguars.  In the wild.  How many people get to do that?  And it was only mid-morning on our first day.  And after this, we had 9 more outings scheduled.

 

Still.

 

I looked at Tito: “New boat this afternoon, right?”

 

 

Heavily cropped and a tiny file.  Imagining what could have been.....

 

734778638_Jaguar.Male(YoungBrotherPair).FirstSighting.JBPSD.jpg.af0183fd3b70fa564e5340f983c83318.jpg

 

 

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We made it into a quiet channel off the river, where Vanderlei added fresh oil to the engine and I mused silently over exactly when that capybara poop good luck charm was going to kick into gear.

 

Sooner than later, as it turned out.  “They’ve found another jaguar,” Tito announced.

 

Vanderlei finished his task, rushed to the front of the boat, turned the key in the ignition, and vroom!  The engine started right up, and off we went.

 

This time, it was a lone female jaguar.  She was walking along the edge of the river, stopping now and then to survey the area, and we kept pace with her, but at a respectful distance.

 

653220415_Jaguar.FemaleI.jpg.d403137a9e840fe18509d22d1b044e5d.jpg

 

 

2011023287_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingIPSD.jpg.a78add15b44a21f737e16ee7923f7d3c.jpg

 

 

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As she continued to make her way, I spotted a capybara by the edge of the water. 

 

69328372_CapybaraSequenceI.jpg.42d7d39a9146d558623208bf0634e482.jpg

 

 

These two were on a future collision course. 

 

Tito and Vanderlei saw it as well, obviously, and, while everyone else was keeping lockstep with the jaguar, I motioned for us to go ahead and move into position upriver so that we could secure the best vantage point should there be some action with the capybara.

 

The jaguar slowly crept forward. 

 

1637003504_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingVIIIPSD.jpg.5eeac4fd5af1d38e6462478a204a6881.jpg

 

 

My pulse quickened.

 

Suddenly, the capybara leaped made a loud honking alarm call as it leaped into the water

 

588743532_CapybaraSequenceII.jpg.ee599938261c5ed77bbf83485a63aba0.jpg

 

 

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Can you see her?  (To the far left)

 

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The jaguar pursued it, but the capybara had had too much of a headstart.

 

537956183_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingIVPSDJB.jpg.b8f919a49c99e8aab82450141e4c470b.jpg

 

 

1983627872_Jaguar.FemaleHuntinginWaterPSD.jpg.0736a5007f4ae59fe58270ebfdb4b1ee.jpg

 

 

1302719407_Jaguar.FemaleHuntinginWaterII.jpg.bba470b67589f8b368a253089e703376.jpg

 

 

832663570_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingVIPSD.jpg.7c45c7d32e3ce9c7da57d763fea642ce.jpg

 

 

Mealtime would have to wait.  Even though I had prepared myself mentally for this moment, it still happened much faster than I expected.

 

Watching lunch get away.

 

1725492455_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingV.jpg.d037a31fcb201cfd9b00a06d65469607.jpg

 

 

Quenching a thirst

 

34472118_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingVPSD.jpg.8be50c7ec3c9b95af2529a9e7a10fcca.jpg

 

 

The jaguar took stock of her missed opportunity, and then continued her leisurely journey along the shore. 

 

Resignation

 

99697179_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingVIIPSD.jpg.b92d39b84bc486907204fa161477ba23.jpg

 

 

1637003504_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingVIIIPSD.jpg.5eeac4fd5af1d38e6462478a204a6881.jpg

 

 

By now, with the heat intensifying, the would-be huntress took one last survey before settling into the shade of the forest for a nap.  

 

 

1802168492_Jaguar.FemaleHuntingIXPSD.jpg.8f472576ff9d8a888d6e0cdc1729a380.jpg

 

 

As for us, it was time to head back to the lodge for lunch and a quick rest ourselves before returning to the water for the afternoon.  But what a morning it had been.  After this encounter, any sense of a missed opportunity from earlier was completely forgotten.

 

I guess the wise old boat driver this morning had been right, after all.  In the end, we had experienced exceptionally good luck. 

 

I just hoped my misstep on the dock at the outset of the morning was good for the duration of the trip, and that no repeat performances would be necessary.

 

 

 

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@Alexander33, where one can find a capybara poop close to hotel or docks ? The leoprad on the ledge is a beauty, even severly cropped.

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10 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

In fact, now that you mention it, our last six trips (Costa Rica twice, Brazil twice, East Africa twice) all were to places that have stellar coffee production. Hmmm, that's a common denominator I might need to explore on a more widespread basis.....  

 

Columbia... baby!!!

 

As soon as you said the name of the boat was the Tayaman XXXVII, I thought "I wonder what happened to the first 36?".   Sounds like you might need a 38th but I am sure we will learn about that soon enough.

 

Great pictures Peter!  The action shot of the jumping Capybara is fantastic.  It's hard to describe the awesome feeling of seeing a Jaguar in the wild but reading your report brings that feeling back.  We loved our stay at the Hotel Pantanal Norte and I think you made the right decision to stay there and support them as opposed to the Flotel.  

 

Looking forward to the next installment already.

 

Alan

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1 hour ago, Atdahl said:

Columbia... baby!!!

 

Colombia ... to be precise. Just not to end in Columbine :( ... Let me know when you go there  :) (Colombia, not Columbine)!

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Had to laugh about your "good luck omen" Peter! But it definitely paid off, watching a Jaguar (trying to) hunt is super-cool, and you got great shots. BTW, I also thought Porto Jofre would be a town and was quite surprised when we arrived there. Agree about the Flotel vs. Hotel aspect, I also enjoyed walking around the premises very much.

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@Atdahl

 

Uh-oh, I think you've planted a new seed.  I actually was thinking of Sumatra, or some place like that, when I was imagining coffee regions as travel destinations.  But.....Colombia -- yes.  First, however, I have to copy you and go to Ecuador.

 

@xelas

@michael-ibk

 

Thanks for your nice comments.

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Over the course of the next 5 days, we managed to see 16 individual jaguars, some only for a single, brief encounter, and others on multiple occasions.  I quickly lost count of the total number of sightings we had, as such a figure didn’t seem as important to me as the quality of a given sighting. 

 

What I can say is that we saw jaguars on 9 of our 10 excursions.  Only on our last afternoon, as a cold weather system was approaching, did we miss out.  But, even then, the Pantanal held surprises and lessons for us to remember.

 

For now, however, jaguars.  Rather than follow a day-by-day accounting, I’ll highlight some of the particular jaguars we came across during the course of the trip.

 

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The Two Brothers

 

Although the first jaguars we encountered did not constitute our best sighting, we were fortunate enough to come across these two spirited young males at least four more times, and fortunately for us, they paused to give us better poses than on that first morning.

 

 

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282888507_BrothersIX.jpg.829230e84657a97478ed6947267b6ece.jpg

 

 

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Botswanadreams

Oh, we know this two little guys. We saw them too on our first afternoon. 

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@Botswanadreams

 

From what I saw on your website, I think you’ll be seeing some otther friends here, as well. 

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The Petite Female a/k/a “Fig”

 

Late one morning, we came across a lone female on a beach as she tried to ambush some capybara. 

 

598477712_Jaguar.YoungFemaleHuntingIPSD.jpg.25ebd94d3242b8504a61b69d6a8e7a38.jpg

 

 

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Her efforts failed, but we followed her along the bank for some time as she attempted to hunt down another family.

 

Damn it!  Missed again.

 

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1994145941_Jaguar.YoungFemaleHuntingXI.jpg.94617e83fc9175bbb1b08b1c5e969d38.jpg

 

 

However, the capybaras were exceedingly wary, the alpha male seemingly always alert, and he had sounded the alarm, prompting the entire family to escape into the water, long before she had a realistic chance of catching one.

 

 

887778313_CapybaraSequenceI.jpg.9c77608ee736cafe167c072315a35366.jpg

 

 

934582824_CapybaraSequenceII.jpg.705f76df8f7c911fbc1ef8825c1a7a23.jpg

 

 

1117379402_CapybaraSequenceIII.jpg.8e485de187ad1947974058f5ffc4dbad.jpg

 

 

1760625522_CapybaraSequenceIV.jpg.36b0050a40420df4931af72edc5a2c0b.jpg

 

 

75106056_CapybaraSequenceV.jpg.426c86b29926164cd61c015cad99462d.jpg

 

 

Unsuccessful once more.

 

815988608_Jaguar.YoungFemaleHuntingXIV.jpg.837aa8821924bbeac50697f2058003c2.jpg

 

 

Tito remarked that she was rather small (although she was at least the size of a male leopard), but that description, compared with her nonchalance at our presence and her habit of posing beautifully, reminded me of the elegant leopardess Fig, whom we had seen earlier in the year in Kenya’s Olare-Motorogi Conservancy, and so that’s what I decided to call her.

 

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We saw her again on another beach later that afternoon, where I played around trying to take some wider angle shots to better convey the overall environment. 

 

 

1069468090_Jaguar.FemaleonBeachIIPSD.jpg.b207203e1a708a9807a3856a94299e5a.jpg

 

 

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1970675304_Jaguar.Female.Wide-anglewithCandlestickTreeIIPSD.jpg.a4668f6ce7a5017588cc8ce482ece269.jpg

 

 

She soon took to the water and swam off.

 

608323251_Jaguar.FemaleonBeachIV.jpg.c93642ba3d300a55a43e997932f35cc9.jpg

 

 

1369730169_Jaguar.FemaleonBeachV.jpg.ebe5e85397e4b321c271e15839fc0b37.jpg

 

 

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She graced us with an appearance again a few mornings later, as we followed her along a steep embankment.  The vegetation along the river at this point was dense, but we managed (barely) to keep up with her as she moved past the brush and through the shadows. (You can see here how effective the jaguar's camouflage can be).

 

 

596821668_Jaguar.FemaleinBushesPre.jpg.221168c7c7ab7aa907dee69fffb3d219.jpg

 

 

At one point, there was a small break in the thick tangles, and Vanderlei must have read my mind as he positioned the boat right in front of this area.  If we were lucky, she would stop and poke her head out of the darkness.  I readied my camera in anticipation, and…..

 

 

1124746444_Jaguar.FemaleinBushesJPG.jpg.bb485d63a06e174468da2ff7b1e18e41.jpg

 

 

…..my favorite photo of the whole trip.

 

 

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Wow Peter!  Spectacular shots...all of them.  But, that last one certainly is a stunner.  Is that one mounted on a wall in your house yet? :)

 

Alan

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@Atdahl

 

You’re much too kind, Alan. This jaguar was such a poser, she made it easy. I wish they were all that way!

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The Opportunistic Hunter

 

One morning we entered an inlet off the main river.  A capybara was placidly resting on a sandbank, when, suddenly, it let out the trademark honking of an alarm call as it dove into the water.

 

1961983130_CapybaraSequenceI.jpg.e2216b66c16fc72169e8fc235efac28b.jpg

 

 

1500091045_CapybaraSequenceII.jpg.e30d8a13cf6b83edd13f31bb7595076f.jpg

 

 

1853415752_CapybaraSequenceIII.jpg.5b4fcb848b88ceb4a4affec0fa48fcdc.jpg

 

 

As we rounded a bend, we saw the source of its fright: a large male jaguar.  He had been walking along the shore when he spied the capybara, and could not resist at least an attempt for a meal.

 

576760193_HuntingMaleI.jpg.9baa4104c71265d6fbd5c93e8890f609.jpg

 

 

1790872508_HuntingMaleII.jpg.885057993e155259378560d6c1199aa1.jpg

 

 

I have to hand it to the capybaras.  They proved to be formidable opponents.  As in our previous encounters in similar situations, it almost seemed that the capybaras were already making their escape before the jaguar had even determined whether it would attempt a hunt.

 

This boy didn’t appear too frustrated with the missed opportunity, however.  He sauntered up to a high promontory and dropped down for a rest in the sun, as he surveyed the river below.

 

34750418_HuntingMaleIII.jpg.db90a5e3e98f833b856c06af4f1b90e4.jpg

 

 

1321675477_HuntingMaleIV.jpg.192dfd959d91659843f422145a4b0f4e.jpg

 

 

This was the only sighting we had of this particular jaguar.

 

 

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