Posted on 07/19/2018 9:04:30 AM PDT by BBell
For non-experts trying to comprehend Saturday's (July 14) jaguar escape at Audubon Zoo, one big question lingers -- why did he kill so many animals?
When Valerio the jaguar was discovered outside his enclosure and inside the zoo's fox exhibit at 7:20 a.m. Saturday (July 14), he had already killed six animals and seriously injured three more, who, within 48 hours, would also die. In total, one emu, three foxes and five alpacas were killed.
If Valerio was hungry, why didn't he just kill one or two animals to feed on? Was he being territorial?
That sort of logic may make sense to humans, but it isn't how jaguars are hardwired, said Dr. Aletris Neils, executive director of Conservation CATalyst, a group dedicated to protecting wild cat species around the world. Neils has spent 15 years tracking and studying jaguars in the wild, including a rare and tiny group of individual jaguars that have been spotted in Arizona.
Neils and other experts said Valerio's escape was an example of "surplus killing," which typically occurs when the hunting instinct of cats, both big and small, meets a human-altered environment. Like all cats, the jaguar's predatory instinct is "linked to movement," she said. When a jaguar is in hunting mode, movement guides how much she kills, not how hungry she is or if she is feeling territorial. Now, consider a jaguar hunting in an enclosed environment where its prey can't get away. The 3-year-old Valerio was simply acting on instinct, Neils said.
"It was completely natural behavior that is in no way reflective of a bad cat," Neils said.
Jaguars live in 18 countries, all in Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. They are the largest big cat living in the Americas today, but are threatened by illegal hunting, deforestation and loss of
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
You'll still be on the menu, once it figures out how to trip you and then sit on you... ;-)
worth repeating.
LOL
***why did he kill so many animals? ***
That’s what Jaguars do! Like the old story goes...”You knew what I was when you picked me up!”
BEAT me to it!
Some dumb human thought this was good enough to contain a full grown Jaguar?
And we thought it was only humans who killed just for the hell of it.
We have been lied to.
I believe he now prefers to be called a black panther rather than his slave name of jaguar...
Exactly. Cats are programmed to hunt and kill prey, as are dogs for that matter. Game runs and predators chase them and kill them. This is not rocket science.
I will say, the Lord God really did mankind a huge favor by designing us to walk on 2 legs so our eyes are usually over 5 feet high. This comes in really handy when it comes to scaring off predators. Not that a grizzly bear cares being so much taller, or a badger being so aggressive. But our height really gives pause to a lot of predators.
He wasn’t put down. It will be a while before I go back to Audubon Zoo until they have those cages more secure. Imagine if this had happened during the day when it was open to the public?
He wasn’t put down. It will be a while before I go back to Audubon Zoo until they have those cages more secure. Imagine if this had happened during the day when it was open to the public?
He wasn’t put down. It will be a while before I go back to Audubon Zoo until they have those cages more secure. Imagine if this had happened during the day when it was open to the public?
He wasn’t put down. It will be a while before I go back to Audubon Zoo until they have those cages more secure. Imagine if this had happened during the day when it was open to the public?
Sorry about the quadruple post. My computer is super sensitive when I push the Post button.
We just had a discussion on a pitbull thread where someone speculated on the carnage if house cats weighed 120 lbs like big dogs are. Your kitty kitty would make a meal out of you in no time flat. Between a 100 lb dog and a 100 lb cat, I think the cat wins 9 out of 10 of those fights. They ate superb killing machines. I mean, for one thing, I cant even begin to imagine how high or far a 100 lb weight-height proportionate cat could jump. Jumping on your roof or from it would likely be child’s play for a 100 lb kitty.
Right!
Cats kill for fun. Can you think of anything more terrifying than a 500 pound house cat?
You would need a lot of food to keep it fat and happy. And an industrial strength can opener.
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