A video trending online in South Africa has started an online conversation about a Leopard attacking a Crocodile… when in fact the video is of a Jaguar attacking a Caiman.
The Facebook has had millions of views but we tracked down the original, and got the right story.
Nat Geo WILD presented a week dedicated to nature’s fiercest felines – the big cats – last year December and credited the themed episodes as dedication to creatures of magnificent strength, ferocity and beauty who are rapidly facing extinction. With visually stunning and powerful stories from around the world, the animal channel got closer than ever before to lions, tigers, cheetahs, panthers and more as viewers shared in their triumphs, defeats, and epic struggles to survive.
The Jaguar episode focused on the apex predator of the Amazon jungle who is a solitary, opportunistic hunter. These stalk and ambush predators are recognized as threats by nearly every other jungle creature but are near threatened to extinction because of humans.
Humans are the main threat to the jaguar. A jaguar seldom, if ever, attacks humans unless it is cornered. Humans hunt the Jaguar for sport, for its spotted hide, and to protect their domestic stock. The Jaguar is endangered because it is hunted for its fur, and farmers kill the Jaguar because it killed their cattle. Jaguars are reputed to be so destructive of cattle and horses that the larger Mexican ranches retain a ‘tiger hunter’ to kill them or at least drive them away. Poaching Jaguars by hunting is still a problem, as there is a great demand for their coats.
Jaguars enjoy swimming, making aquatic prey irresistible game. Jaguars mature between three to four years of age, allowing for plenty of time for adolescents to learn the tricks of the hunting trade.
As adults, Jaguars routinely prey on unsuspecting Caimans as they sunbathe on the riverbank. But this incredible mammal wanted a bigger challenge and hunted the cousin to a crocodile right under the water.
Caiman crocodiles are some of the most ferocious predators that inhabit the Amazon jungles of South America, persisting in marshes, swamps, and other bodies of water. Black caimans are the largest of all Caiman species and can grow up to sixteen feet in length and weigh over 2,400 pounds.
Watch the incredible video below:
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