News Animals

Huge numbers of fish-eating jaguars prowl Brazil’s wetlands

Most jaguars are loners that hunt landlubbing mammals, but not the big cats of the Pantanal

a jaguar swimming in water

A jaguar (Panthera onca) swims in flooded wetlands in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The predators, which are extraordinarily abundant locally, have a diet surprisingly rich in fish and aquatic reptiles.

Charlotte Eriksson

By Jake Buehler

- More than 2 years ago

In a tract of central Brazilian wetlands, jaguars spend their days wading through chest-deep waters searching for fish.