Study yields insights into the ecology of fishing jaguars, including rare social interactions

by Sean Nealon, Oregon State University
October 14, 2021

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers and a team of international scientists have gained new insights into the diet, population density and social interactions of a group of Brazilian jaguars.

Fish and aquatic reptiles dominated the diet of the jaguars in a remote wetland area of Brazil, representing the first population of jaguars known to feed minimally on mammals. In addition, motion-triggered video cameras showed jaguars playing, fishing and traveling together.

The findings, recently published in the journal Ecology, run counter to beliefs that jaguars are solitary mammals whose social interactions are limited to courting or disputes over territory, said Charlotte Eriksson, a doctoral student at Oregon State and lead author of the paper.

Keep reading: https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/study-yields-insights-ecology-fishing-jaguars-including-rare-social-interactions

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3543?af=R