Jaguar's unusual hunting dive fails as capybara escapes in Brazil's Pantanal

A male jaguar named Ousado, known for his distinctive hunting techniques, was captured on video attempting an unusual underwater ambush on a capybara in Brazil's Pantanal region. The incident occurred on the Três Irmãos River near Porto Jofre, Mato Grosso, and was filmed by tour guides Branco Arruda and Raquelle Saladin for a group of American tourists. The video shows Ousado silently swimming towards the riverbank where the capybara was located. He then dove underwater in an attempt to surprise his prey. However, the capybara appeared to sense the jaguar's approach and leaped into the river, successfully evading the attack. Ousado surfaced and seemingly abandoned the hunt as the capybara swam away. Guides reported maintaining a distance to avoid interfering with the natural predation process. This specific hunting strategy, involving a silent underwater approach, is considered uncommon among jaguars in the area, contributing to Ousado's notoriety. The jaguar is also recognizable by a monitoring collar he still wears, a remnant from his rescue in 2020. Ousado suffered severe burns during the major Pantanal fires that year and was fitted with a GPS collar to track his recovery and adaptation. Although the collar was designed to detach automatically, the mechanism failed. Experts confirm the collar does not impede Ousado's normal activities, such as hunting and swimming, and poses no health risk. Capturing him again to remove the collar is deemed more dangerous than leaving it on, given his age (over 13 years) and the risks associated with tranquilizing a wild animal in a challenging environment.