Species: Jaguar | Location: Pantanal, Brazil
The image shows partially obscured adult jaguars during vigorous mating – something most tours rarely get to see. It was in late August last year in hot, humid and buggy conditions – but worth every bit of the discomfort. Most of the photos are taken while exploring major rivers, streams and even puddles in a region that is partially agricultural and partially wilderness. Small boats carry visitors up the rivers, offering stunning views of abundant bird life, hungry caimans, giant river otters, capybaras and much else.
The huge spotted cats called jaguars were seen mostly on the river banks as they prowled through underbush, along narrow beaches and even swimming in pursuit of daily meals. Seeing jaguars is NOT guaranteed, but the guides driving small outboard-powered boats were in contact via radio. And when a jaguar was seen, a dozen or more boats raced to the scene – which was quite hectic at times, with maybe 20 boats carrying photographers all jockeying for position. The jaguars are accustomed to the mayhem, and just seem to ignore it. We watched and photographed repeated mating episodes for maybe an hour, and each time they finished an episode we heard a gruff roar. We could see – and photograph – the female stretching, yawning and rolling on the sand, with the male returning for more about every 20 minutes. The jaguars were clearly satisfied – and so were we photographers.
For such trips, I use both a Nikon D810 and a Nikon D700 single lens reflex digital cameras, plus 2 Nikon lenses. The shorter one is a 24 to 120 mm zoom, and the other is an 80 to 400 mm zoom. Both were very suitable for this trip, and useful. As for settings, the ISO sensitivity was set quite high, even as much as ISO 3200, to stop action, using aperture priority and auto-focus.
About The Photographer
Robert Cooke is a retired journalist living in Stow, MA. In retirement he is devoting major time and effort to travel and all sorts of photography – landscape, wildlife, still life and almost anything else that gets in front of the lens. As with everything else, he still has a lot to learn, which is what makes life great. He spent 40 years in newspaper work, most of it as a writer covering multiple area of science and medicine. He has published three books, one on genetic engineering, the second on the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and the third on the research and teaching of Dr. Judah Folkman, a renowned cancer researcher at Harvard and Children’s Hospital, Boston. He’s currently working (very slowly) on a fourth book. The book royalties are keeping him well-fed.
Vote for this photo, and you’ll be entered for the chance to win a $500 Visa gift card!
You can vote once a day. Each time you submit a vote, you’ll receive an email with a voting confirmation link. You must click on the emailed confirmation link each time to make your vote count!
