River otters’ teamwork keeps hungry jaguar at bay [Video]

• In April, wildlife photographer Daniel De Granville chanced upon an encounter between a jaguar and a team of giant otters in Pantanal, Brazil.
• Daniel captured a video of how the otters teamed up to keep the hungry jaguar at bay and protect their turf.
• It was an interesting scene for Daniel, where he witnessed “two of the Pantanal’s top predators — one from the water and another from the land.”

It’s quite anticipated to see jaguars ruling the land and giant river otters reigning the waterways in Pantanal, Brazil — the largest tropical wetland in the world. But seeing the two meet and how the other protects its turf is not something witnessed every day.

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So, when wildlife photographer Daniel De Granville spotted a jaguar and a group of otters in April, he didn’t let the chance pass and captured a video of the two. It was a scene that triggered his curiosity on what was about to happen.

The jaguar was attempting to hunt near a riverbank, seemingly on a search for an easy meal, as he perched on a fallen log near the river.

“The local guides said that the otters had their den right near that fallen log, and the jaguar was probably looking for some unattended cub,” Daniel told The Dodo.

The otters must have sensed what the hungry jaguar was trying to do. So, they refused to back down and teamed up together to corner the jaguar.

Whether the jaguar was threatened or not was something not precisely clear, but the fact that he ended up getting off the river was clearly captured on the video.

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“It was very exciting to witness two of the Pantanal’s top predators — one from the water and another from the land — coming face to face,” Daniel said. “Giant otters are one of my favorite animals and I have seen their behavior in various situations. But I had never watched them argue with a jaguar.”

And this encounter is not something any wildlife photographer could easily forget, especially for someone who loves giant otters like Daniel.

Source: The Dodo