The Prowler is back

Just in from Ben, another jaguar photo! Those of you that have been following this blog for awhile now, probably can immediately recognize that this is not the jaguar known as Kitty Carlisle! For one thing, it is massive, a much heavier build than Kitty. This stocky body is typical of adult male jaguars, and yes, if you look carefully, you can see the "details."

So we have a male jaguar on the move near Kitty's hangout. A comparison with my database photos shows that it is "Prowler," who has appeared 22 January 2009 (see earlier post). That's almost a year ago to the day (see date/time stamp top left corner of the photo above).

The Prowler's photo file dates back to March 2005, a few kilometers northeast of Chan Chich Lodge. It seems more than likely Chan Chich figures in his regular territorial "patrols." He'll make his presence known to Kitty and any other jaguars in the area through scent marking and spraying.

Note the confidence shown by appearing mid-day near the Lodge. Clearly, the Prowler knows he has nothing to fear striding along a main trail close to the Lodge without cover of night or vegetation.

Curious "Jorge" on the Bajo Trail

We saw Ben, Chan Chich Lodge manager, Sunday night. He passed on these very exciting jaguar photos from one of the camera traps not far from the Lodge. I couldn't wait to share them! First though, I compared the spot pattern of this animal with those of male jaguars I had in my database from my previous jaguar projects in Gallon Jug Estate (yes, it's a male -- if you look carefully, on one of the frames you will notice the ... "details").

There were no matches in the database which wasn't actually too surprising. While this photo shows a healthy animal -- a couple ticks on his face notwithstanding -- he is by no means as heavy bodied as fully mature adult male jaguars. See the photos of Prowler -- who is massive -- for comparison ("On the Prowl," 11 Dec. 09). So I would conclude this is a fairly young animal.

Here then, is a slide show of a gorgeous young male jaguar, Curious "Jorge," examining the Bajo Trail sign and showing all the curiosity cats are famous for!

On the Prowl

I've had such a great time over the last day or so, going through all the camera trap photos Ben has taken around Chan Chich Lodge during the past year. It was like seeing an old friend to recognize "Prowler," a male jaguar that was photographed near Chan Chich Lodge in January. Even though he was only half in the frame, there is no doubt it was him.

Prowler was easily recognizable by the distinctive "3" near his spine, marked with a red arrow. Spotted cats have unique patterns in the same way our fingerprints are unique. If you spend a little more time comparing the spot pattern with the inset photo, you can see we have a match.

The inset photo was taken on 10 May 2005 (8:38AM) during one of my jaguar density studies in the Gallon Jug Estate. Prowler was photographed 23 times during April-May 2005, 10-15 km north of Chan Chich Lodge. He was a big, healthy looking male then, so I would estimate he was at least 2 years old ... making him at least 6 years old now. In the prime of life. Judging from his robust condition in the recent photo, he's been doing very well indeed in Gallon Jug.

You're wondering how he got his name? A family who donated to our conservation project had the honor of naming him.