Sheephunter,
you shold have posted the picture with you trying to hold him up lengthwise, that shows the enormity of this cat..took my breath away and I don't get to excited over a trophy anymore, but this is the biggest, longest, fattest Leopard I have ever seen in my life, dead or alive..there may be bigger ones but I don't know where...

Sheephunter or Ray,
What was the scull measurement of this leopard ?

Beautiful cat! Leopards are my favorite game.

Sheephunter,
That's one terrific leopard. I'd say you definitely found an above average cat. It sounds like you had a great safari. Thanks for sharing your story and pictures.

Wow! A very impressive cat. You have every reason to be one happy hunter!

Erik D.

Here is one of the pictures that didn't come up because of the "imagestation" .org syndrome!!! What a leopard! I think this is the picture you were looking for, Ray!!!



I think the reason you didn't see spots was that you did shoot a lion and had to paint on some dots. Hope you don't mind my "fixing" the picture so that it would load on the forum.



BTW, wasn't it something to have such a fine staff ready to cater to you every whim... and the food, wow!

Good Job! Did the PH explain why he wanted to change the location of the bait? What animal was used for bait?

Ray, anybody:
Can you compare and contrast the leopard and the jaguar? How close are they to each other in temperment, aggtressiveness, etc? I know what the book says about each but would like to have someone that knows both to comment and elaborate. Anyone

The Jaguar is definitely bigger on average than the Leopard, with the Jaguar more akin to an African Lioness in size.

As to which is the most aggressive or dangerous, its hard to say as a lot would depend upon circumstances. Certain man-eating Leopards are credited with hundreds of human kills and any leopard can be particularly dangerous when wounded.

With regards the Jaguar, from what I have read, they seem to be hunted with smaller caliber’s than is typically used in Africa and I have even heard of pistols being used on Jaguar that have been bailed by hounds. I am not sure if this is simply a case of the locals using what firearms are available or what? Perhaps some of our South American members can shed more light on Jaguar hunting?

Regards,

Pete

The Leopard is larger and more aggressive than the Jaguar as I understand it, but I am not that familiar with Jaguars and can only tell you what I have been told at meetings and over coffee, whiskey and supper by those who have hunted both...

The Jaguar (Panthera Onca) is on average bigger bodied and much thicker than a leopard is. The Jaguar would on the average have a much bigger body and head than a leopard, but they tend to have shorter tails than the leopard.

The Jaguar on average will weigh 70-120 kg and a leopard would be on average 70-100 kg. So, the Jaguar does tend to have a heavier body usually, but would not be as long due to the shorter tail. The Jaguar and leopard both have an average life span of 12-16 years.

As far as which one is more aggressive or dangerous, I think they have about the same attitude. Neither one of them is much of a danger to a human when left alone, but they would both be just as dangerous when wounded. So, I do not think that leopards are any more aggressive than a Jaguar. Both cats are very aggressive when catching their prey and both cats are deadly and aggressive if wounded.

I have two great pictures that I would post of a Jaguar and leopard for all to see, but can not figure out the posting picture stuff. If someone is inetrested in posting the two pictures for me, e-mail me and will send them to you.

Ray my friend, with due respect I must remark that the jaguar is much bigger. Mature males have beeen weighed at 440 pounds, which is more than any leopard can reach. In fact, the jaguar is the third cat in size. There are few of them now, but their temper is bad. No cougar, be sure. In the past the early pioneers had very bad encounters with them and many cases of man eaters are recorded. Back in 1536 the first Spaniards who came to this area were "jaguarized" as Capstick would say.

What a great way to start off in Africa!!!

Congrats!!

Adam, shoot me your pics and I'll be happy to put them up for you.

Cheers,
Canuck

Here are Adam's pics...













Anyone interested in jaguar hunting really oughta read "Hunting the Pantanal of Mato Grasso and Brazil" (I think) by Tony De Almeida. It is awesome reading. For my money, the jaguar is the bigger and possibly more aggressive of the two (vs leopard as above). This is strictly armchair conjecture based on extensive literature review, however.



Cheers,

Canuck

Glock23: I can�t say which one is more agressive. The black variety is of course very unusual. Five years ago I saw a very big animal at a zoo near Cancun in Mexico, fully the equal of a lioness in size. De Almeida (quoted by Canuck) knows his country indeed and his references should be taken into serious account. The definitive jaguar hunt was made by the Amazonian Indians with a spear, by the way Capstick got most of his knowledge of these sports from Sasha Siemel, an European who wrote "Tigrero", a book out of print here and a most interesting tale of jaguar sticking. Another tales are from Eduardo Barros Prado, a Brazilian adventurer, who must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Speaking by myself I know an "estancia" where at least you may find 30 or more beasts. Of course you can�t hunt one, they are "natural monuments" and heavy fines and prison may be inflicted over you if the Game Rangers find a pelt in your baggage. I don�t recall attacks on humans in recent years, thus we may conclude that the leopard is the fiercer of the two cats.

Like I said, I am no expert on Jaguar and was only posting what some hunters have told me..I asked one of them about the size the other day after reading the above posts and he said that he was referring to length, the Leopard is normally longer, but the Jaguar is heavier, and the Leopard when wounded is much more aggressive according to him..He has hunted both species extensively. Anyway both are beatiful creatures..

I don't know what the skull measurement of Sheephunters Leopard is...Sheephunter will have to have a SCI measurer do that if he is so inclined..

Now I am curious - what is the scull measurement of that leopard ?? Thanks.