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Caiman-eating jaguars survive fires in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands

They call him Bold and he is Brazil's most popular jaguar, seen on social networks diving into rivers to capture a caiman and wrestle his victim ashore.

Bold and his fellow jaguars are making it through the worst fires to engulf the world's biggest tropical wetlands in central-western Brazil, the Pantanal.

Unlike other animals caught and burnt to death, jaguars understand how to look for refuge on the banks of rivers where food is offered in the caimans and capybaras they hunt.

Strong, or Ousado in Portuguese, survived a devastating fire in 2020 when he was rescued with 2nd degree burns to his paws, flown by helicopter to a rehab center and returned to the wild one month later on.

He is doing effectively, incredibly healthy and searching every day, said wildlife ecologist Abbie Martin, head of the Jaguar ID Project, a non-profit group.

He has actually been through so much. I inform travelers 'If you see him, provide him a round of applause, Martin said by telephone.

So far this year, more than 16% of the Pantanal has burned, approximately 25,000 square km (9,650 sq miles), an area about the size of the U.S. state of Maryland.

While their biome is drying up and being burned down, developing into a cemetery for monkeys, birds, snakes and tapirs, the jaguar population has actually increased recently, according to Martin, a New Yorker who has studied Brazil's largest feline for more than a decade.

The male jaguar population might be steady however the variety of women and cubs is growing in the state park Encontro das Aguas, a sanctuary where 4 rivers meet near Porto Jofre in the state of Mato Grosso.

In 2021, the year after the mega fires, we saw 17 women with their cubs in the park, where prey is plentiful and there are plenty of males to mate with, stated Martin, whose team signs up 90-120 various jaguars each year and approximates their population in the park at around 1,670.

Last year we saw 21 new cubs, she said.

The Jaguar is the 3rd biggest cat worldwide, after the tiger and the lion, and the biggest in the Americas. They grow approximately 170 cm (67 inches) long, not including their remarkable tails that can be approximately 80 cm (31.5 inches).

Males can weigh as much as 150 kg (330 pounds), however size differs between areas. Jaguars in the Amazon are more numerous but smaller sized than the Pantanal ones that need bulk to overcome big prey like a caiman.

The future for jaguars depends upon the rivers that are their last haven, security buffers that might disappear if water levels drop in dry spells or dams are developed, Martin highlighted.

Cristina Gianni, who heads the NEX rehabilitation center for jaguars where Vibrant received stem cell treatment for his burns, stated the Pantanal is under hazard from logging by livestock ranchers along with constant fires brought by climate modification.

She was happy to see Vibrant has become a common sight for Pantanal visitors, quickly determined by a leather collar he still has from his rescue 4 years back.

He is searching like never ever in the past, she said.

(source: Reuters)