Movement patterns of the jaguar in the Pantanal

This early field study examined how jaguars move through the seasonally inundated landscape of the Brazilian Pantanal, combining direct observation and tracking to describe ranging in relation to water, cover, and prey. It documented how jaguars follow rivers and gallery forest, exploit the abundant aquatic and semi-aquatic prey of the wetland, and adjust their movements to the annual flood that concentrates animals on high ground. The work provided some of the first systematic insight into jaguar ecology in this critical region and highlighted the importance of riverine habitats to the species. It contributed to the recognition of the Pantanal as a global jaguar stronghold and complemented forest-based studies elsewhere, broadening understanding of how jaguar spatial behavior responds to a dynamic, water-dominated environment with a rich and accessible prey community.