The powerful jaguar leapt 10 feet from a tree and into the river before battling the reptile
A jaguar has been filmed leaping from a tree and onto a caiman before the pair battled to the death.
The incredible footage shows the jaguar lying motionless in a tree after spotting the reptile in a river below.
After not breaking its gaze, the jaguar leaps some 10 feet onto the reptile.
The pair wrestle for around 10 minutes before the jaguar sinks its teeth into the reptile’s head.
Wildlife photographer Kevin Dooley, 58, captured the shocking scenes while in Pantanal, Brazil on August 23.
After an hour of silently lurking, Kevin said the cat “which kept as quiet as anything for the entire time” pounced on the caiman as it eventually swam towards the tree.
He said: “It was amazing to watch. The jaguar jumped into the water and wrestled with the caiman, eventually killing it.
“He then dragged it up the tree, like as though it had got his dinner.
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“It left me speechless, the jaguar never failed to break its gaze from the caiman in the river, I couldn’t believe it all happened in front of me.”
He continued: “It is one of those things that you hope it doesn’t happen when you are resting your arms with the camera because I was watching it through a lens the whole time.
“I have honestly never seen anything like it, and I have been taking pictures of animals for a very long time.”
After a ten minute struggle in the water, the jaguar came out on top and after killing the caiman dragged it up a tree.
Wildlife photographer Kevin Dooley, 58, watched as the jaguar “never failed to break its gaze” from the caiman swimming in the river below in Pantanal, Brazil.
After an hour of waiting, Kevin said the cat “which kept as quiet as anything for the entire time” then pounced on the caiman as it eventually swam towards the tree.
He said: “It was amazing to watch. The jaguar jumped into the water and wrestled with the caiman, eventually killing it.
“He then dragged it up the tree, like as though it had got his dinner.
“It left me speechless, the jaguar never failed to break its gaze from the caiman in the river, I couldn’t believe it all happened in front of me.”
DEADLY STRUGGLE
The photographer added: “They both struggled for around 10 minutes but the jaguar killed it.
“I was in a boat on the river when this happened, we stopped it to watch it all take place.
“The jaguar didn’t move that whole time and just watched every movement of the caiman, he never took his eyes off it.”
Kevin, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, US captured these rare pictures whilst touring the area in a boat.
He continued: “It is one of those things that you hope it doesn’t happen when you are resting your arms with the camera, because I was watching it through a lens the whole time.
“I have honestly never seen anything like it, and I have been taking pictures of animals for a very long time.”