Attacks by Jaguars (Panthera onca) on Humans in Central Brazil: Report of Three Cases, with Observation of a Death

Abstract

Conflicts between humans and big cats have been known for centuries throughout the world, but have intensified in recent decades. Recently, attacks by Panthera onca on humans in Brazil have been brought to the forefront through exposure in the press and because of the severity of the attacks. We report 3 cases of patients attacked by jaguars in provoked and predatory situations. Two patients survived the attacks and one died. Attack mechanisms and lesions in victims are discussed. The attacks demonstrate a real risk of accidents from jaguars in certain regions, such as the Pantanal and the Amazon.

Large carnivore attacks on hominins during the Pleistocene: a forensic approach with a Neanderthal example

“…The felines (basically leopards (Panthera pardus) (Nabi et al 2009a), jaguars (Panthera onca) (Neto et al 2011), lions (Panthera leo) (Packer et al 2005), tigers (Panthera tigris) (Langley and Hunter 2001), and cougars (Puma concolor)) attack humans in the same way in most cases. They carry out a solitary surprise attack motivated by a predatory behavior that can be stimulated by the quick erratic movements of the victim (e.g., jogging or running) (Conrad 1992;Rollins and Spencer 1995).…”

“…This is usually defined by compound fractures of the cervical bodies (Chapenoire et al 2001). Nevertheless, skull surface damage can also be caused by a big cat attack, and modifications such as scores, punctures, perforations, or cortical fractures caused by several bites may occur (Conrad 1992;Neto et al 2011).…”

“…In the case of felines, the average number of attacks that lead to death is extremely high when compared to that of bears (Nabi et al 2009a). This is probably because most cases related to felines are predatory (Neto et al 2011), in contrast with bear attacks, which may often be related to defensive attacks (of their cubs or their territory) (Ambarli and Bilgin 2008). This is also something that can be inferred in the way a human is attacked.…”

“…Concerning felines like cougars, jogging is an activity that may motivate a predatory attack (e.g., Neto et al 2011). In the case of wolves, being accompanied by a dog may generate an aggressive behavior by wolves toward the dog (Linnell et al 2002), although a common recommendation is to be accompanied by a dog to avoid carnivore attacks (see French 2001).…”

“…The reasons for these conflicts are mainly associated with the similar resource use patterns of people and wild animals (Ahmed et al 2012) and with their overlapping habitats (Agarwal and Mumtaz 2009). These conflicts have generated a rising incidence of attacks that constitute an increasingly serious form of human-wildlife confrontation conflict (e.g., Herrero and Higgins 2003;Conover 2008;Brown and Conover 2008;Neto et al 2011), related to shrinking wild carnivore habitats (Skuja 2002), loss of their prey (Thakur et al 2007), or wildlife hunting (Inskip and Zimmermann 2009). As such, they present a scenario of mutual pressures between humans and wildlife that may be comparable to the relationships that existed between large carnivores and hominins during the Pleistocene.…”