Oregon State study follows ‘fishing jaguars’ of Brazil

摘要

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.