Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Great place to see it: Pantanal, Brazil
Jaguar. The world’s third largest feline (after the tiger and the lion) with a giant, robust skull, the big cat that’s a skilled tree-climber and is adept at and also enjoys swimming and even hunts for capybara and caiman in water, the mammal with an incredibly powerful bite that can drag and pulverize the heaviest of its prey, whose rosettes are larger than those of the leopard but whose behaviour is closer to that of the tiger, the cat that’s also extremely elusive, it is a majestic wild beauty you want to see in the Brazilian Pantanal.
The female jaguar provides all the parenting the cub needs and doesn’t tolerate the male’s presence after she gives birth, fearing infanticide. Outside this motherhood spell, the phantom is rather a solitary being. This well-muscled beauty can take any terrestrial or riparian for prey.
This phantom in the wetlands of the Pantanal, with all its intoxicating felinity, will demand your reverence and why wouldn’t you shower this massive mammal with all your love and awe? Its matchless elegance has inspired many of modern man’s creations, from bathroom fittings to luxury cars! And for its regality and the exultation it can bestow upon its onlookers, the jaguar, which is called the ‘tiger of the Americas’, is our Animal of the Week.
See this amazing jaguar on our Pantanal photography expendition