Cannibalism Among Jaguars (Panthera onca)

Cannibalism Among Jaguars (Panthera onca)
Author(s) :Fernando C. C. Azevedo, Ricardo L. Costa, Henrique V. B.
Concone, André Pires-da Silva, and Luciano M. Verdade
Source: The Southwestern Naturalist, 55(4):597-599. 2010.
Published By: Southwestern Association of Naturalists
DOI: 10.1894/RTS-10.1
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1894/RTS-10.1
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December 2010
Notes
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CANNIBALISM AMONG JAGUARS (PANTHERA ONCA)
FERNANDO C. C. AZEVEDO,* RICARDO L. COSTA, HENRIQUE V. B. CONCONE, ANDRÉ PIRES-DA SILVA,
AND LUCIANO M. VERDADE
Instituto Pró-Carnı́voros, Atibaia, SP 12945-010, Brazil, and Departamento de Ciências Naturais,
Universidade Federal de São João del Rei, São João del Rei, MG 36301-160, Brazil (FCCA)
Projeto Gadonça, Fazenda San Francisco, Miranda, MS 79380-000, Brazil (RLC)
Projeto Onça-Pantaneira, Fazenda Real/Filial São Bento, Miranda, MS 79380-000, Brazil (FCCA, HVBC)
Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019 (APDS)
Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica/USP, Caixa Postal 09, Piracicaba, SP 13418-900, Brazil (LMV)
* Correspondent: [email protected]
ABSTRACT—This is the first report of cannibalism in a free-ranging population of jaguars (Panthera
onca). An encounter among unfamiliar jaguars may have provoked social stress, a behavior reported in
other free-ranging carnivores.
RESUMEN—Este es el primer reporte de canibalismo en una población de jaguares (Panthera onca) de
vida libre. Un encuentro entre jaguares desconocidos pudo haber provocado estrés social, un
comportamiento reportado en otros carnı́voros de vida libre.
Among most free-ranging carnivores, populations seem to be regulated by social interactions
manifested through territoriality and aggression
(Lindzey et al., 1994; Pierce et al., 2000; Adams,
2001). Instances of aggression and killing of
conspecifics have been reported mostly as cases
of interspecific killings (Palomares and Caro,
1999) or infanticide (Agrell et al., 1998; Soares et
al., 2006), which significantly contributes to
mortality of juveniles (Packer and Pusey, 1984;
Balme and Hunter, 2004). Although less common than infanticide, intraspecific aggression
resulting in death and consumption of an adult
conspecific, i.e., cannibalism, has been reported
among large terrestrial carnivores (Hunter and
Skinner, 1995; Logan and Sweanor, 2001;
Amstrup et al., 2006; Galentine and Swift, 2007).
Among adult felids, factors that lead to cannibalism may include defense of cubs (Logan and
Sweanor, 2001), defense of prey (Galentine and
Swift, 2007), and apparent competition (Hunter
and Skinner, 1995). Although much has been
reported regarding agonistic behavior within
felids, incidents of cannibalism among jaguars
(Panthera onca) are rare and, so far, restricted to
infanticide (Soares et al., 2006). Here, we document an observation of cannibalism of an adult
female jaguar by two adult male jaguars.
Our research is part of an ongoing project
initiated in 2003 to examine spatial organization,
THE SOUTHWESTERN NATURALIST 55(4):597–599
use of food resources, and predation on livestock
by jaguars in the southern part of the Pantanal
region of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
(20u059S, 56u369W; Azevedo and Murray, 2007).
The Pantanal is a floodplain covering ca.
140,000 km2 of land on the border of Bolivia and
Paraguay, and is characterized by an annual regime
of flooding and low land relief, with a landscape
comprised of wetlands, seasonally inundated grasslands and woodlands, and non-flooding forests.
The study site is a 150-km2 cattle ranch and wildlife
reserve in the southern region of the state.
On 24 November 2007, a jaguar was found ca.
3 days post-mortem in a dense semi-deciduous
forest on the western border of the ranch. The
carcass was lying on the ground, uncovered,
under the shade of a tree and not yet consumed
by scavengers. The carcass was a fully grown adult
female jaguar, in apparent good nutritional
condition (body weight 5 ca. 60 kg) and, based
on wear and staining of dentition, ca. 3–4 years
old. Necropsy revealed multiple wounds inflicted
on the throat and forelegs, deep punctures at the
first, second, and third cervical vertebrae and
scapulas, and the abdominal cavity was opened.
Multiple wounds matched the size and shape of a
bite by a large carnivore. The left forequarter,
left forepaw, and distal portions of some ribs had
been partially consumed. We did not find
fractures on the skull or other bones.
598
vol. 55, no. 4
The Southwestern Naturalist
We searched for evidence of other jaguars
around the carcass. Along an unpaved road
500 m away from the killing site, we found large
tracks of jaguars. Based on shape and size, tracks
likely belonged to two males. These two males
were first observed together at the end of 2006
and remained in the region. It is uncommon for
male jaguars to associate for this length of time.
In addition to tracks of two male jaguars, we
found a scat ca. 550 m from the carcass.
Laboratory analysis of the scat indicated presence of hairs, a partially digested toe, and one
claw of a jaguar. An adult female jaguar (radiocollared female 03; Azevedo and Murray, 2007)
also was in the vicinity where the carcass was
found for $2 days prior to the mortality event.
She had defended that territory since 2004 and
she was observed near the killing site for $2 days
prior to occurrence of the death. We did not
observe cuts or injuries on female 03. Her
possible role in the cannibalism incident is
uncertain, as only tracks of males were around
the carcass.
A potential explanation for the cannibalism we
report may be the presence of two male jaguars
and the dead female inside the territory of
female 03. We speculate that the encounter
among these unfamiliar jaguars might have
provoked social stress, a behavior reported in
other free-ranging carnivores (Robbins and
McCreery, 2000; Amstrup et al., 2006). Deprivation of food seems an unlikely cause for the
cannibalism, because abundance of prey is
adequate to support the population of jaguars
in the area (Azevedo and Murray, 2007).
Due to scarcity of reports in the literature on
cannibalism, reasons for such behavior remain
unclear and are based on isolated incidents. The
population of jaguars in our study area has been
studied since 2003 and its spatial organization
was characterized by the presence of distinct
territories with a low degree of spatial overlap
and exclusive areas inside home ranges. These
regions of exclusivity apparently were maintained passively, with little or no active avoidance
or overt defense of areas between pairs of jaguars
that had overlapping or adjacent home ranges
(Azevedo and Murray, 2007). This is the first
report of cannibalism in free-ranging jaguars.
Behavior of jaguars and the difficulty of observing individual interactions preclude further
understanding of the motivation for such behavior.
We thank J. Aycrigg and W. Seybold for constructive
comments on an early draft of the manuscript. We
thank San Francisco Ranch for support and permission
to conduct research. We also thank the National
Center for the Research and Conservation of Predators/Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da
Biodiversidade (CENAP/ICMBio) for the support. This
work was financed by San Francisco Ranch, Fundação
de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
(FAPESP), Premier Pet and World Wildlife Fund-Brazil
Program Pantanal para Sempre. Institutional support
was provided by Instituto Pró-Carnı́voros.
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December 2010
Notes
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Submitted 20 June 2009. Accepted 20 March 2010.
Associate Editor was Richard T. Stevens.