Bellbird Vol 4 2010 NOTE ON THE WINTER DIET OF JAGUARS Panthera onca IN THE PARAGUAYAN TRANSITIONAL CHACO

Although jaguar (Panthera onca) diet has been intensively studied in recent years, there are many ecoregions where the cat’s ecology is poorly understood. One of these is the Chaco ecoregion of central South America. Between June and August in 2002, 41 jaguar scat samples were collected in the Transitional Chaco of Paraguay to determine the winter diet of jaguars. All scats were collected from Faro Moro Ranch, a property containing mostly intact semi-arid deciduous scrub forest in the Boqueron Department, Paraguay. Scats contained the remains of 12 mammal species, two reptile species, and those of unidentified birds. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) remains occurred (58%) in more than twice as many scats (n = 23) as the next most frequently-occurring species, collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) (23%) (n = 9). Although our study was based on a small sample, our findings are similar to many other jaguar diet studies in that they illustrate the importance of peccaries in jaguar diet.