Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Amazing what you can infer from watching a big cat grab a passing snack.
Climate-Change-Induced Conflict? Rare Footage Captured of Jaguar Killing Ocelot at Waterhole
By WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY JANUARY 6, 2021
In what may be a sign of climate-change-induced conflict, researchers have captured rare photographic evidence of a jaguar killing another predatory wild cat at an isolated waterhole in Guatemala.
In the footage, a male jaguar arrives near the waterhole and apparently lies in wait for an hour. It lets a potentially dangerous prey animal, a large tapir, pass by, but when the ocelot stops to drink, the jaguar pounces and carries off the smaller predator.
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“Although these predator-on-predator interactions may be rare, there may be certain instances when they become more prevalent, and one of those could be over contested water resources,” said Daniel Thornton, a WSU assistant professor and co-author on the paper. “People don’t often think of tropical systems as being dry, but in many parts of the world, tropical rains are quite seasonal, and with climate change, some of these tropical ecosystems are expected to become even more seasonal. The more isolated and rare water resources become, the more they’re going to become hotspots of activity.”
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While some research has noted signs of ocelot in jaguar feces, until now, no known images have been captured of a jaguar directly killing an ocelot.
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“We have evidence that many things are happening related to climate change, but we might not be aware of every detail, of every consequence,” said Lucy Perera-Romero, a WSU doctoral student and lead author on the study. “For example, in these beautiful, green forests, we may not be aware that water flow is a serious issue. It could be another source of mortality—apart from deforestation, from hunting, and from everything else that we do.”
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I mean, it could have been a jaguar driven to desperation by the ravages of climate change. Or it could have been a hungry big cat getting tired of waiting for a snack, grabbing the first small animal unlucky enough to pass too near.
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Jim Steele, natural animal behavior being fabricated into a climate lie cleanup on aisle seven, please.
That reminds me of one of the stupidest events ever done that caused a supermarket’s “wet cleanup on aisle seven” message to echo throughout any store. Some stupid rummy had decided that in the busy Christmas shopping rush, an open area in the produce department would host one of those extra item, pyramid shaped end cap displays. This particular one was build out of boxes with glass jars of olive oil, and at the top of the pyramid, yep, you guessed it, the top layer was ringed with individual bottles that had been removed from a box, now longer present. When a distraught mother chasing her young child crashed her partially filled cart into the pyramid, the whole thing shook and I’d guess about 15 bottles of olive oil crashed to the floor and broke, the olive oil running everywhere. That wet cleanup was a nasty mess, no doubt, but I left the scene just shaking my head about how stupid was the “manager” who designed that end cap.
But maybe we climate change Dee Nye Arghs are to blame for this event, as well. Because we encouraged people to have babies and feed them food at Christmas time. Well you really should feed them almost every day, if you can.
Pure bloviating. Ranks right with the fires are caused by climate change stuff.
Predators regularly kill predators that might be competition. Especially, smaller predators. Equal sized predators may fight, but often the losing side runs off.
If the water source is so contested, why would the jaguar allow a larger animal that drinks more water to access the water?
South American Tapirs’ average weight is 225kg, (496 lbs.) and can weigh as much as 320kg (710 lbs.).
Jaguars are frequently ambush predators. Jaguars are not stupid enough to tackle much larger animals.
At an average weight of 90.7 kg. to 113 kg. (100 lbs. to 250 lbs.), not many jaguars have the size to attack large prey.
Jaguars eat a large array of animals from deers to caimans, boas, wild hogs and one of their favorite are dogs.
I think they can be opportunistic but they also like the variety like we do.
Bet they don’t go stalking cauliflowers or brussel spouts !
This may have been a Baird’s tapir. Wiki says they can range in weight up to 400 kg. Although adult jaguars and large American crocs are capable of preying on an adult Baird’s, the outcomes are often in the tapir’s favor.
So I guess that when wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone park many years ago and they killed lots of coyotes it must have been because of climate change….
Nope – it is simply that predators tend not to tolerate competition and will kill competitors whenever they get the chance. Lions have been observed killing hyenas many times and I’ve never heard anyone chalk it up to climate change.
The lions know that hyenas are always trying to eat lion Cubs to get rid of competition so they return the favor.
It is pretty pathetic that they would attempt to link this to Cc
Simply hoping to hitch a ride on the climate gravy train, and pushing the climate religion. Climate change does everything…. even when it doesn’t. Most importantly invoking it may help get that grant to tenure track success for a young PhD,
… and wittingly become purveyors of junk science.
There are multiple youtube videos of a Jaguars jumping into a river and coming out with a 5/6 foot foot Crocodilians in its mouth. Jaguars are the meanest thing in the jungle.
Oh no the climate apocalypse is upon us! 🙂
My six year old grandson would say ” everyone’s got to eat”.
I think I also saw that Jaguar helping polar bears chase walruses off that cliff
Climate change is mind bending
God forbid there my be natural hierarchies in the world. Isn’t nature supposed to be all soft and gentle with lots of rainbows and unicorns.
Until the proliferation of surveillance cameras 24/7 (in the last 5 years or so) we had no idea how often this type of attack happened. Perhaps they are less frequent now than in previous times? Who knows, but if they are less frequent that’ll be Climate Change as THE cause
Lets see I was collecting a Wildlife encyclopaedia magazine in the early ’70s One of the photos in the African Savannah section… A leopard eating a serval…. Super-predators eat whatever they feel like catching..
https://carnivora.net/predation-of-leopards-to-other-carnivores-t4074.html
Jaguars often take large crocodilians for food (Caimans)
They aren’t going to baulk at a smaller cat unless they don’t taste nice…
“While some research has noted signs of ocelot in jaguar feces, until now, no known images have been captured of a jaguar directly killing an ocelot.”
An intellectual giant tromping all over the pygmy footsteps of settled climate science.
Someone should write a paper on how climate change makes scientists more dishonest. They won’t be able to disagree with it because it’s about climate change.