With the news this week and subsequent video-cam footage revealing a Jaguar living 25 miles outside of Tucson, Arizona, thought it useful, fun and interesting to investigate how the two largest Felids in the New World co-exist from Mexico on down through South America(as stated two days ago in this Blog, the two "cats also were sympatric in the USA up until around 1700, once occupying the same habitat from California across through Texas, Arkansas, alabama, Georgia, Florida and up into the Carolina's).................In the Amazon and other rain forests of the New World the jaguar is the top predator"...................... "In some South and Central American countries the popular name for this big cat is “tiger,” though it actually looks a lot more like a leopard"............... "Differences between jaguars and leopards include size"..................: "The jaguar is a huskier, more powerful animal, with a larger head and a thicker chest and legs"................ "In addition, the spots on a jaguar’s hide are much more complex than those on a leopard".............................. "A big jaguar can grow to 8 feet long, nose to tail-tip, and can reach a weight of 250 pounds"........................ "It devours just about everything it can catch in the rainforest, from tapirs (the biggest rain forest animal and a distant relative of the rhino) to turtles, which it eats after crunching through the shell with its powerful jaws"...................... "Other common prey animals include deer and monkeys"........................... "This versatile predator is a good climber and an excellent swimmer"....................... "In fact, it will sometimes take on the jungle’s formidable water-dwelling predators—anacondas and caimans—in order to get a meal"..................... "The cougar, also known as the puma or mountain lion, has a broader range than any big cat on the planet except the leopard"................ "It can be found from the Canadian Rockies to Patagonia, and is very much at home in South and Central American rain forests, where it preys on some of the same animals as the jaguar, but is able to coexist with the larger "cat" by focusing its diet on more medium size animals"................. "The cougar is a good climber and a powerful predator, weighing up to around 200 pounds".............. "However, a cougar is no match for a jaguar and it tends to stay out of the bigger cat’s way".

http://www.jaguarnetwork.org/pdf/44.pdf

Coexistence of jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in a mosaic landscape in the Venezuelan llanos

Daniel Scognamillo*, Ines Esperanza Maxit, Mel Sunquist and John Polisar ´ Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, P.O. Box 110430, Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, U.S.A. (Accepted 25 June 2002)

Jaguar and kittens

Puma

 Abstract

Jaguar Panthera onca and puma Puma concolor are sympatric throughout the jaguar’s distribution. Although several studies have focused on the interactions between these two predators, the ecological and behavioural factors that promote their coexistence remain unclear. The goal of this study was to identify those factors that facilitate the coexistence of these cats in a mosaic landscape in the Venezuelan llanos. The study was conducted from January 1996 until November 1998. Five jaguars and six pumas were captured and radio-collared.

 A high degree of spatial overlap was observed between jaguars and pumas, which may be related to the abundance and distribution of prey species. At a fine scale, there was little overlap of puma locations with jaguar locations. Both species were more active at night than during daytime, but seasonal differences were detected in the activity levels of these predators.

 Major segregation was found in food habits. Jaguars selected for large prey and pumas for medium-sized prey. Jaguars selected for capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris and collared peccary Tayassu tajacu and consumed caiman Caiman crocodilus and white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus less than expected. Pumas selected just for collared peccary and also killed caiman less than expected. 

It is suggested that the abundance of medium-sized prey is an ecological factor that is facilitating the coexistence of jaguar and puma in the study area. Habitat heterogeneity may be another influential factor leading to the coexistence. Seasonal differences in activity levels probably reflect differences in the size and species of prey taken by these cats
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http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/content/90/3/612

Spatial and Temporal Interactions of Sympatric Jaguars (Panthera onca) and Pumas (Puma concolor) in a Neotropical Forest

Bart J. Harmsen, Rebecca J. Foster, Scott C. Silver, Linde E. T. Ostro, C. Patrick Doncaster

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/08-MAMM-A-140R.1 612-620 First published online: 2 June 2009

ABSTRACT

We used extensive camera-trap surveys to study

 interindividual interactions among individually

 recognizable jaguars (Panthern onca) and 

plain-colored pumas (Puma concolor). 

Timed location data from a network of

 119 trap stations in the Cockscomb Basin 

of Belize provide the 1st evidence of 

interspecific avoidance calibrated

 against intraspecific interactions among

 jaguars.

 Camera trapping has advantages over

 radiotelemetry in its potential to provide

 data on the complete array of individuals

 within the study area. The 23 individually

 identified male jaguars showed high levels 

of overlap in ranges, with up to 5 different 

males captured at the same location in the

 same month. Low levels of avoidance 

between individuals and a high flux of

 individuals contributed to low consistency

 in home-range ownership over the long 

term (3 months to 2 years).

 Jaguars and pumas had similar nocturnal

 activity schedules. Both species used

 similar habitats within the Cockscomb 

Basin, indicated by a high correlation in 

capture rates per location between species. 

Apart from their overall spatial similarities,

 jaguars and pumas avoided using the

 same location at the same time. This

 interspecific segregation was detectable

 over and above the spatial and temporal

segregation of individual jaguars.

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwig8uKIuefKAhVK7mMKHadAA0EQFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecology.info%2Fecology-jaguar-puma.htm&usg=AFQjCNHJPMPbvWEXkGiYj7V03VhIbpcYxg&bvm=bv.113370389,d.cGc

Sympatric 

Jaguar 

and Puma