First documented predation of a Baird’s tapir by a jaguar in the Calakmul region, Mexico

• Jonathan Pérez-Flores ^[1] ; Héctor Arias-Domínguez ^[2] ; Nicolás Arias-Domínguez ^[2]
  1. [1] Colegio de la Frontera del Sur. México
  2. [2] Ejido Nuevo Becal. México
• Localización: Neotropical Biology and Conservation, ISSN 1809-9939, Vol. 15, Nº. 4, 2020, págs. 453-461
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Primera depredación documentada de un tapir de Baird por un jaguar en la región de Calakmul, México
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• Resumen

  • To date, records of predation on Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) by jaguars (Panthera onca) were anecdotal and did not allow for differentiation regarding whether the animal had been preyed upon or scavenged. Here, we present the first documented event of predation on a Baird’s tapir by a jaguar in the Calakmul region, Campeche, Mexico. In August 2017, we observed a jaguar eating a juvenile female Baird’s tapir; when we analysed the skull, we observed the characteristic “lethal bite” with which jaguars kill their prey by piercing the temporal and parietal bones with their canine teeth. Jaguars select to attack tapirs when they are most vulnerable (young or sick). Records of these type of events are important for understanding the food webs and ecology of these iconic Neotropical species that inhabit the Mesoamerican forests.