I thought we should have a few pictures of some of the cats of South America. My favorite is the Jaguar. I should have a small chance of seeing one in the wild in a few months in Northern Argentina, Chaco Province.
Several members have been lucky enough to hunt or see pumas--which is difficult enough, but the other cats are rarely seen. Please let us know which of the wild cats you have seen in the wild.
Unfortunately, I did not take any of these photos:

Are you talking about tha chaco province or the chaco as a an area ??

In Argentina you may find jaguars in the provinces of Misiones, Formosa, Salta, Jujuy and Santiago del Estero, but "I think" there are not any more jaguars left in the Chaco province. At least there is not much evidence about them.

If you are talking about the Chaco as the area between Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, yes you have jaguars, as to see them...well that's another story..

L

I have done a little of "google" and it seems you are right, it seems there are a few roaming around "the impenetrable"...so good luck !!!

L

Thanks, Lorenzo. Our trip shall be up toward Viscacheral and the Tantanacuy reserve (Salta prov?).
If I were wanting to primarily to see a jaguar, I would probably go to a reserve somewhere in Belize. Our anticipated trip will be to see Indian reserves, hunt and fish, photograph, and to see some of the remaining Chaco. I am hoping for brocket deer, capybara, & buffalo, plus perhaps a chance at puma, scrub bull, axis deer, etc (we also hope to hunt a ranch in Corrientes).
Many of our members have seen leopard, lion, bobcat, and puma in the wild, but few indeed have seen either tiger or jaguar in the wild. Some small number may have seen ocelot or jaguarundi. Probably none have seen the snow leopard or the clouded leopard.
I enjoy pictures of all the wild cats. Cats are more interesting than bears or wolves, IMO. (Personally, I have seen several bears, wolves, and coyotes in N.A., but only a few bobcats,-- and a few African lions and leopards, in Africa) I have never seen a puma in the wild--tracks, yes, several times over the years, but not the thing itself!
Have you seen or taken any of the cats of South America (besides that wonderful puma in your earlier post )?

An excerpt from Encyclopedia Brittanica online:
True to its name, the Gran Chaco has an abundance of wildlife. Among the larger animals are the jaguar, ocelot, puma, tapir, giant armadillo, spiny anteater, many foxes, numerous small wildcats, the agouti (a large rodent), the capybara (water hog), the maned wolf, the palustrian deer, the peccary, and the guanaco (a camelid related to the llama). The Chaco is one of the last major refuges…

I do realize the chances of seeing some of these is very, very small; but the chances of seeing them in my Living Room is zero.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
(...)

An excerpt from Encyclopedia Brittanica online:
True to its name, the Gran Chaco has an abundance of wildlife. Among the larger animals are the jaguar, ocelot, puma, tapir, giant armadillo, spiny anteater, many foxes, numerous small wildcats, the agouti (a large rodent), the capybara (water hog), the maned wolf, the palustrian deer, the peccary, and the guanaco (a camelid related to the llama). The Chaco is one of the last major refuges…

(...)

Well, consider that the term "chaco" is usually accepted to come from a a quechua expression meaning "hunting fields"

Gran Chaco is a geographical region that includes part of northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and south western Brazil ...

Chaco province is a northern state of Argentina, which many similar caracteristics described in your post - and where the Impenetrable forest is situated

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
but the chances of seeing them in my Living Room is zero.

A couple of friends have big properties in Paraguay and the farm workers kills jaguars and puma because they kill cattle. All I know is that they need very good dogs to bay the cats and VERY thick bush so it's not for anyone, as the landowner side by side with my friend's farm said...anyone can hunt a "lion" (puma) but killing a "tigre" (jaguar) is not for everyone..

He was saying this while showing a big skin of a jaguar he has killed a month ago.

My friend has just returned from his farm there and he saw a man with a very big wound in his arm done it by a jaguar a few days earlier.

Usually when a tigre starts killing cattle they will be ready so as soon they find a fresh kill they release the dogs. They know what animal has killed the cow because the puma or lion as they call it up there cover the kill with branches and leaves while the tigre not.

I think you will have a great trip to some fantastic places. Argentine has some very wild areas..I love that country despite...well you know...

L

Waiting for a wild boar, I´ve seen a wild cat bigger than a domestic one but smaller than a puma. It had black stripes on a white fur and the tail had black rings (or so it seemed under the moonlight). I don´t know the name of this animal, there are several wild cats, including one called "gato de los pajonales", which could have been him. Afterwards I regretted not collecting it but I do imagine that it´s a species going into oblivion

a web page with good descriptions of the cats of Argentina in español.

http://www.facundoallia.com.ar/paginas/felinos4.htm#f44

In my country we have the "gato montés", the "yaguátirica" and the "gato de los pajonales". And few pumas now and then in the brazilian border.

L

These are not my pictures:
jaguarundi


Pampas Cat (gato de los pajonales)

Do desolate, back woods in Ohio count? Since your favorite is the jaguar Steve, thought I'ld share these pictures from a big cat compound a friend owned back in the late 70's. I helped raise the jag from 2 days old.

Enjoy!

I took this from the internet, shows the sizes of our cats. The last one, the Tirica, in my country is know as Yaguá tirica.



The name Jaguar comes from the guaraní name Yaguáreté. So we have the Yaguátirica, the Yaguárundí and the Yaguareté, all Guaraní names.

The Guaraní people lived in what today is Paraguay,Uruguay (both guaraní names),part of Argentina and south of Brazil.

L

These are not my pics, just want to show you the cats of south america :

Gato do mato grande "Oncifelis geoffroyi"



GAto do mato pequeno "Leopardus tigrinus"


Gato Mourisco, Jaguarundi "Herpailurus yagouarondi"



Gato palheiro "Oncifelis colocolo"


Jaguar "Panthera onca"


Jaguatirica "Leopardus pardalis"


Yaguatirica "Oncifelis wiedii"


Puma "Puma concolor"



And these are some pics from Arne Sucksdorf, swedish guy that lived in Brazil ( Pantanal, like Sasha Siemel) :










And this is a footprint a friend found in his farm :

Puma and his cub, for sure.


See you guys.

Mary, those are wonderful picts from Ohio. were you a "Hippy" in those days?

Lorenzo, thanks for that comparison chart. I had always thought that a jaguarundi was bigger than an Ocelot, but apparently not!

Reiter, those are fantastic pictures!! Those are perfect cat tracks, showing both the bilobe anterior part of the pad, and the trilobe posterior part. The Swede--He's sharpening a spear for jaguars?? Is he still alive? Where can we learn more about him?

Steve... No, I was a "veterinary technician" who was fortunate to work in a practice that dealt with exotics and was grateful to have befriended and worked with the owner of this beautiful cat and many others (ocelots, margays, cougars, an african lion and a leopard). Was a very memorable part of my youth.

Reiter...very much enjoyed the old photo's, esp. the melanistic jag.

Kind regards,
Mary

Mary--I was a "veterinary technician" too, in the 60's, but mainly cleaned up poop and fed the critters at a veterinarian hospital.

Sounds like you were "kennel help"!
That little piece of paper from Ohio State University kept me out of the kennel and in the treatment and surgery room.

Mary

Steve,

You´re right, that´s a jaguar spear, called "zagaia".

I´ll open another thread on Mr. Arne, here on SA forums.


Best regards from Brasil,
Reiter.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Hilliard-Krueger:
Sounds like you were "kennel help"!
That little piece of paper from Ohio State University kept me out of the kennel and in the treatment and surgery room.

Mary

Much better description!!

I did take these...




Looks like pictures taken in the wild...but nope they were taken at the Montgomery Zoo! (Montgomery, Alabama)

And this ocelot too:

Steve;During our trip in the Patagonia with Aberto Foerster and Bill Berlat we found near Piedra del Aguila a death (by a car) WildCat on the road, I toke this picture, if You visit the Sodiro Museum You will see all our natives species of animals (complete)