Viral Unreal Animals jaguar Brazil Pantanal animal cat WildCreatures beast magnificent boat river close encounter unforgettable predator

In Brazil, the Pantanal is home to jaguars, caiman, capybara, giant anteaters, tapir, and hundreds of species of birds and other animals. It is the world's largest tropical wetland and the world's largest flooded grasslands. The struggle to survive is as real and as dramatic here as anywhere else in the world. Huge caiman (crocodile family) cruise the wetlands and occupy the shoreline, feeding on fish and smaller animals and birds. They are a top predator here and they fear few animals. But they are hunted and preyed upon by the jaguar, the undeniable apex predator on this continent. Jaguar sit along the banks or wander the shorelines in hope of a meal.

The jaguar is a formidable cat with a huge head and powerful jaws that hold an incredible bite force. The jaguar can bite through an animal's skull to deliver a deadly blow.

Jaguars measure up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and have a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb). It is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Here, in the Pantanal, they are the undisputed rulers and they patrol the shorelines and wetlands without fear. Only another jaguar could take down a healthy, adult jaguar.

This jaguar was sitting on the bank of a narrow river, hidden by tall grass until a boat full of tourists cruised slowly past and realized that they were almost right beside this behemoth. Whether it was waiting for a caiman to swim past, or possibly just waking up from a snooze is hard to know. The boat operator wisely cruised right past and put some distance between them all before turning to give his guests a close look at the giant cat.

Jaguars can leap up to 10m (30 feet), easily covering the distance between the boat and the shore if it had decided to. As it yawns, it shows the incredible teeth and head muscles that make this animal such a deadly predator. The group watched the jaguar from a respectable distance, enjoying the magnificence until it turned and slowly wandered into the grass. This is an encounter that none of them will ever forget.