First off I want to say

Huge shout to youtuber @Lukecaverns for this awesome video, I mean if you are a Jaguar expert, enthusiast, simple Jaguar fan!

If you are reading this, I highly recommend this for a watch. The video is 30 mins long so a mini documentary basically, chalked with information, lost accounts from the 16th century, faint records of some of the first explorers of the Americas. It takes us on a time machine, Back to the 1500s and forward. Back to a time seemingly forgotten in Americas history, a time that has been swept under the rug, A time that we literally tried to erase.

Link here for video \\\[\[https://youtu.be/wl90xATd1qM?is=wtNV9LD6Wym2bI6X\\\](https://youtu.be/wl90xATd1qM?is=wtNV9LD6Wym2bI6X)\](https://youtu.be/wl90xATd1qM?is=wtNV9LD6Wym2bI6X%5D(https://youtu.be/wl90xATd1qM?is=wtNV9LD6Wym2bI6X))

I can’t begin to tell you how informative this video was especially for ones who try hard to inform people on this cat that many think they knew about. An animal whose history reflects a creature just as dangerous as its two larger cousins.

Let me ask you a few things? Have you ever thought about the American frontier, the wilds of both South America and North America during the 1400 and 1500s?

Have you ever thought about Jaguar populations during those times and how wide their range used to be?

Are you familiar with the man eating history of Lions, Tigers and Leopards?

Have you ever heard of man eating Jaguars?

Have you ever heard the saying “Jaguars are least likely to attack people compared to other big cats?

Well….

This is what this video breaks down and my gosh is it great, a true breath of fresh air when it comes to a topic that has about as much light shed to it as the accounts and expeditions documents that came with it

Man Eating Jaguars Of Americas Frontier

For Jaguar enthusiasts the one thing most try to explain to people, especially those who either don’t know about these cats, have preconceived notions on them based off scattered facts, or simply cant see another feline challenging the likes of Lions and Tigers, that what we think we know about these cats couldn’t be farther from the truth.

If anything what we’ve learned about Jaguars in the last 15yrs or so is really just the start. Everything else before that was seemingly dispersed puzzle pieces,that people were trying to put together. Many thought they had this species figured out and in classic Jaguar fashion those were mere shadows, they showed us that we barely scratched the surface with this animal which truly is unique not only amongst cats but amongst land predators in general.

Lets really unpack this

Jaguars are a creature I post frequently about and I dont mind saying that. My favorite animal yes but thats far from why I post them. These are probably some of the least studied, misinterpreted, misinformed and misunderstood Big Cats in the world. It represents the many animals of the world who suffer from shifting baseline syndrome. From their behavior to their size, their history, diet even very appearance and morphology

In the 60s when their numbers were hanging on by a thread forcing them to retreat into the dense reaches of the Amazon. This very phenomenon pushed the narrative at the time most prominently in media that these were “Jungle Cats” and that the Amazon was their main habitat.

Well when you push a species to the brink the way the Jaguar was to the point where they had no choice but to call the Amazon home, of course that is going to be the biome were you see them the most. However simply because that was the case then doesn’t mean thats how it is…

Before that and thanks to conservation after, Jaguars clearly showed that they like Mountain Lions, Leopards and Tigers, are highly adaptable to many different biomes beyond the Canopies, from Woodlands, Coastlines and Savannas, to Deserts, Mountains and even places with Snow.

From Patagonia to damn there Southern Canada, reports of them in Pennsylvania, the Eastern Us before colonization where you could have seen these cats stalking eastern Elk and the eastern populations of Bison

Their history was forgotten, seemingly swept under a generational rug, almost erased from time, until now. A quote from the video to emphasize, apparently there are “less than 5 jaguar working historians”. Which is a statement in its own right. Wild as this is minuscule compared to whats known about Lions Tigers Leopards.

All the digging and research brings us closer to the true ecology of the “American Tiger”

This also brings us to the reason you probably clicked on this post

“Maneaters”?

Well thats what the video is for, yet i’m here to simplify it.

Jaguars aren’t the cats you think of when you think “Maneaters” when you think feline Maneater, the (Champawat Tigress)probably comes to mind, the (Tsavo Pair Of Lions), the (Leopard Of Rudraprayag). Basically all of the Jaguars family members yet the Jaguar is the one least likely to attack humans.

Welp for those who do their digging, many who have dealt with Jaguars first hand, hunted them, lived near them, even the accounts from these videos. They all say the same thing, these are probably the most veracious and dangerous big cat out of them all.

Take some of the accounts from the these early explorers who (despite people exaggerating sometimes) were familiar with the old world cats.    
Hunters and explorers/outdoors men knew that these animals were unlike the likes of anything they’ve ever dealt with before.

Jaguars were dragging people out of their camps with freighting precision, killing people quickly almost with no noise or struggle, the various reports of how they efficiently would kill whole groups of dogs, one recalls of a group of dogs so terrified of the animal they didn’t even growl at it another showing hunters literally having to switch tactics using smaller dogs to simply point the cats out being trained not to get close to them for fear of the them being killed, how some of the smaller central american Jaguars (who were mentioned by the Spaniards who first explored the Darien Gap) at the time, biggest of probably 200lbs or so, were killing half ton Horses 5times their weight and dragging them off only to turn on the riders.

Take the story of conquistador “Peter Martyr” whose 1516 explorations lost in time, renders as some of the earliest accounts of traversal around Southern America at this time. “Tells of a Jaguar that for 6months attacked nothing but people & livestock”. Yet if you try to look this up on the internet, loose information on Jaguars rarely attacking people comes up. Odds are this read is very hard to find.

There is another read mentioned in the video of one Jaguar out of a few being transported on a ship only to break loose and attack 7 people onboard before eventually jumping off the ship, it was able to kill 3 of them, severing legs and arms. How this was not a famous story or garnered attention like the stories of their old world relatives just goes to show.

But it is here, and so many more accounts to read from, how Jaguars were basically feared even more than Tigers and Lions, how hunters of even more recent history would say that Jaguars proved an even greater challenge than their other relatives, how dangerous they could really be, how they once and sometimes still do view people as prey.

“It’s always the quiet or calm ones they say right”? Well that saying couldn’t be more fitting for this animal, the ones that show the least aggression and come off more reserve is the one that could take people out the most efficient yet brutal way. When you look at their anatomy, their ability to traverse and rule over some many different domains from jungle floors, to trees, to the water, their bite power and kill strategy. It adds up why they were able to scare people with their insane efficiency. If you watched Jaguars hunt you know that even though they a suffocate their prey like other cats they separate themselves with their unique skull bite that with some animals puts them down in mere moments.

The scary part about all of this is that some of the Jaguars were of smaller “eco types” Jaguar eco types are simply regional populations that may differ from others in size, diet and even in certain cases morphology but are still the same species (at least thats still gets debated sometimes). Jaguars can surpass female Lions and Tigers in certain areas commonly reaching over 300lbs with the average size in places like the Pantanal getting higher over the years 260-280lbs being the norm.Its scary to think that 200lb Jaguars can bring down Horses of that size so just imagine the power of a 350lb cat….

Now today, we just dont “hear” about Jaguar attacks that often compared to others but they do happen now do we see it as much as say a Leopard probably not but humans dont cross Jaguars as much as they may Leopards which may be the reason for it. Jaguars are said to be very untamable in captivity even compared to other cats yet many are still found on zoos and conservation centers. They dont have the chance to be around us as much to broadcast how much of a threat they truly are, even the natives speak on how they fear Jaguars and have suffered losses with fisherman and even children due to these cats. Thats not to say they are the least likely to attack they dont see us that much but history shows. They stalk people for hours sometimes very Tiger like and then simply overwhelm you with exceeding power.

This whole post is not to exaggerate or misinform its to open the eyes of those who can see that we are just now starting to understand this predator which should in my opinion should be mentioned alongside Tigers, Lions, Grizzlies and Polar Bears when it comes to land predators. Just look at how colonizers reacted to them, 500 thousand of them were slaughtered a year sometimes and more than 50% of their historic range was lost. Even more, the records and history on them the very little there was, erased or lost in time. Not alot of people studied these cats before they were being hunted so it left people of today who revere them with puzzle pieces to put together from a broken past. The picture that shows is one of a animal with almost mythical aura and unbelievable power, you understand why tribals and natives worshiped them the way they did, kept them as pets and even in cases of their rivals executioners, came up with names and feared them all at the same time…

Watch this video…

Thank you guys and take care :)

The Man Eating Jaguars Of Americas Lost Frontier(History Of Man Eating Jaguars In The Americas)