Check Out This Footage Of A Jaguar Taking Down A Crocodilian 

Big cats like tigers lions and leopards are one of the few predators with enough strength and guile to be able to take down a full grown crocodilian. Whilst it is true all those cats occasionally do hunt toothy reptiles, it is the jaguar that kills crocodiles most frequently. A recent clip released by National Geographic for its show Hostile Planet demonstrates the jaguar’s prowess at killing caiman’s.

Locked in a battle to the death

The footage begins with the jaguar lurking with its head above water level in a murky stretch of river while the narrator warns that the jaguar face the risk of a jaw snapping shut serving as a reminder the entire is filled with teeth. As the clip continues the jaguar starts to close in on its target and then briefly lunges underneath the surface, disappearing for a moment and resurfaces with a large caiman locked between its jaws.

The most powerful jaws

The jaguar delivers a chokehold that is truly impressive but that is not enough to take down prey of this size or kind. Instead it will have to deliver its trademark killer bite to the back of the skull. These big cats have been purpose made for taking down large prey. Amongst all the big cats they have the most powerful jaws with the strength to back it up. Studies of jaguars roaming the Pantanal which is a swathe of land in the centre of South America that covers 70,000 square miles have found jaguars hunt caiman of all sizes and this is not the first time footage has been captured of these big cats taking on these massive reptiles.