Our photos of the puma and the capybara go live on BBC Wildlife Magazine's website

We are very excited to inform you that our Puma and Capybara story (with the full sequence of photos of the kill) is now live on BBC Wildlife Magazine's website:

http://www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com/gallery/puma-v-capybara-photo-gallery-stefan-grol

The puma and the capybara

Last Saturday was a rainy day. At around 4.45pm, the rain subsided, and I decided to go over to the forest beside the river (where we have our hide) to check on a camera trap I had placed there the day before. A puma (Puma concolor) had been spotted in this forest a few days earlier by our field guide Adauto, and I was hoping that perhaps my video would pick up some movements of this curious and elusive creature. To get to the forest, I had to walk around a narrow lake no more than 10 metres wide. As I was walking around this lake, I heard about 50 metres behind me a panicked capybara shouting nervously. I turned around and watched the capybara run into the water. My immediate thought was, 'There must be a predator going after it.' And no sooner had I had this thought when I saw a large female puma leaping into the water after the capybara!!!! The puma grabbed the capybara by the neck (to suffocate it) and stayed with it in the water.
The puma could not see me thanks to a high bank beside the lake, and as I was so close to the house, I decided to quickly go back and get my camera to try to document some of what I was witnessing. But instead of going back to where I was before, I decided to find a place on the high bank which was closer and which perfectly overlooked the puma and the capybara...


By this time the capybara was dead, and so the puma began the difficult process of dragging the body out of the water. This was an adult male capybara - a very heavy creature - so it was all the more impressive to watch her pull it out by just its nose...


The puma was in a hurry to get the capybara back to a sheltered place away from any other hungry eyes. She pulled the body all the way up to the forest's edge, and just before disappearing into the shadows of the forest with her kill, she stopped and glanced up in my direction...


A few months earlier, we got a photo with our camera trap in the same forest of a mother puma with cubs. If this puma is this same mother, and she has youngsters to feed, this could explain her being visibly thin. She then melted into the darkness of the forest, and no sooner had she disappeared, when all of a sudden there were raucous alarm calls from purplish jays, alerting other animals of her presence.
I headed back to the house, not believing what I had just experienced. It goes to show that you just never know what nature has in store.

Protective parent

A number of bare-faced currasows (Crax fasciolata) reside in the forests around our lodge. During the day, these birds spend most of their time walking along the ground in search of food. Currasows have a varied diet, which includes seeds, fruit, small vertebrates and invertebrates.
The female currasow has an ingenious way of protecting her young. As there are many creatures in the Pantanal who would delight at eating a young, defenseless currasow, the female currasow has resorted to fanning open her tail feathers whilst she walks. The chick walks beneath the tail, and thus remains both well hidden and close to its mum, who would endeavour to protect the chick should a predator approach...

Hudini the boa constrictor

One September morning, Stefan and our field guide Adauto took our guest Amanda for a brief safari walk, as she was flying out later that morning . Leaving the lodge building compound area, Adauto who has an amazing eye to spot wildlife, spotted a Boa Constrictor that was partially hidden under some leaves and enjoying the early morning sun rays. Stefan kindly came over to the main building to let me know so I could view this beautiful animal and take some pictures. As I walked over Stefan pointed where the boa was laying and I could not see it even thinking Stefan was taking me on. However, once I perceived its amazing camouflage the creature materialized in its full glory. Stefan had his macro lens and wanted a more intimate "eye to eye" image so totally disregarding the local tick inhabitants he mad him self comfortable on the floor as Amanda looked on
Eventually our friend made its way to a standing tree where it disappeared in what seemed like a cavity under the roots. Or was it still there well camouflaged and I could not see it?

Hungry agouti

When a tree comes into fruit here, it is always interesting to see which animals come to feed on its fruits. Right beside our lodge, there is a tree which is currently full of fruit. And, as the photo above illustrates, a small, forest-dwelling rodent, called an Azara's agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) has been quick to take advantage of the the tree's fallen fruits. As well as eating fruit, Azara's agoutis also eat leaves and roots. Agoutis are quite shy and elusive creatures, so it is always nice to see them going about their daily routine.

Pantanal colours

The Pantanal has an abundance of colourful creatures residing in it. Some of the most colourful creatures are its birds. Here is just a small selection of colourful birds which we are always delighted to see around the lodge:


The red and green macaw (Ara chloropterus) is one of 3 large macaw species which we regularly see here. It loves to feed on the seeds of the acuri palm tree (Platonia insignis) of which there are many here. Red and green macaws nest in the holes of trees. The photo below shows two such macaws checking out the nesting suitability of a tree just metres from the house.


The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) is no doubt one of the most well known birds of the Pantanal. Although they can be quite shy, they are regularly seen here. They are not the strongest flyers so will normally choose to hop between the branches of trees. Toco toucans have a varied diet, eating fruit (as can be seen in the photo below), insects, frogs and even nestlings.


The yellow-billed cardinal (Paroaria capitata), as shown below, can often be seen in small groups, fluttering between bushes and trees beside the river. This bird is a seed-eater as is indicated by its powerful beak.

Tapir magic

It has been a magical week around Embiara. There is a bocaiuva palm tree (acrocomia aculeata) just metres from the steps of the main house whose fruits are now ripe...

And we have been amazed to watch a South American tapir (tapirus terrestris), a creature which is normally so shy and elusive, come every day of this last week to feed on the fallen fruits of this palm tree. This photo shows the tapir feeding at 7.30pm in the evening a few days ago around the tree...
And this is what greeted me as I walked out of the house at 6am yesterday morning...


The tapir, by lying down, was allowing a bird of prey called a yellow headed caracara (milvago chimachima) to hop around its body picking off any unwanted tics who had no doubt hitched a ride on the tapir whilst it was in the forest behind our lodge.

Hairy foragers

White-lipped peccaries (tayassu pecari) are abundant where we are. They can live in very large herds from 50 to over 300 individuals. These creatures are often seen before they're heard, with their grunting and clicking teeth. White-lipped peccaries are mainly diurnal, and are omnivores, eating anything from fruits and grasses to invertebrates. In the photo above, they are eating the ripe fruit of an acuri palm tree. When scared, a white-lipped peccary will lift the hair on its spine and will let off a musky scent, often before running noisily away.

Ocelots near the lodge

This month, we were visited on two occasions by an ocelot (leopardus pardalis). We saw one ocelot on the river bank. It swam across the river and then watched us as we passed it with our canoes. Ocelots are nocturnal, so to see it during the day like this was a rare treat. If you look at the tail of this ocelot, you will see that a large part of it is without fur. Ocelots are fiercely territorial and we believe that this missing fur on its tail could have been caused by a territorial dispute with another ocelot. Ocelots have a varied diet, but they mainly eat small mammals, of which there are many in the forests and fields around our lodge.
Then, just yesterday, another ocelot was spotted resting in the forest behind the lodge. The nervous calls of the purplish jays, the plush-crested jays and the bare-faced currasows are what made us aware of the ocelot's presence.

Monkeys in the trees

A group of black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) live in the forest behind the lodge. There is one black adult male in the group, who can often be heard making a deep roaring (or howling) call at dawn, as a way of telling other potentially rival males that this is his territory. The call can be heard up to 5km away...

The females and youngsters in the group have more of a yellowish-buff colour. These monkeys spend about 70% of their day resting and sleeping in the trees. Their diet consists primarily of leaves, although they might occasionally eat fruits too. Generally howler monkeys like to stay in the trees, only descending to the ground to drink water during dry periods.

Camera trap visitors

On a forest trail near to our lodge, there is a mandovi tree with a hole in its center. Rain water collects in this hole to form a pool. A few weeks ago, we set up a movement-sensitive camera trap on the pool to see which creatures might come to it. What we discovered was very interesting.
The pool was visited by a toco toucan (Ramphastos toco)...

These birds are often found in forests, feeding on a range of food sources, including fruits, lizards, nestlings and birds' eggs. This toucan was using the pool for both drinking and bathing.
The pool was then visited by a ring-tailed coati (nasua nasua)...

Coatis are typically forest dwelling animals, and are both terrestrial and arboreal (they are excellent climbers). They have a similar diet to the toco toucan, eating fruit, small vertebrates, invertebrates and birds' eggs. This coati was drinking from the pool.

And then the pool was visited by a tayra (Eira barbara)...

Tayras, like coatis, live on the ground as well as in trees. They too will eat fruit, small vertebrates , invertebrates and birds' eggs, and they are known to have a taste for honey. This tayra was also drinking from the pool.

Our armour-plated friends

In recent weeks, the fields around our lodge have been visited by some hungry yellow armadillos (Euphractus sexcinctus). These are also known as six-banded armadillos. We have enjoyed watching them purposefully scurry around in search of food. These animals are omnivores and so eat a wide range of food items from insects and small vertebrates to plant material. On one occasion, we watched one of these armadillos feeding on the ripe nuts of an acuri palm tree. On another occasion, we watched one digging in the ground for grubs. Yellow armadillos are diurnal and solitary. They den underground. As you can see in the photos above, these armadillos have bright, stiff hairs across their body and are covered with armour plating.

Blue crowned mot mot

We discovered this blue crowned mot mot (momotus momota) nesting in a tunnel in the riverbank. These are large birds, measuring between 38 - 48cm, but their brown and green colouring makes them difficult to spot when perched on a branch in the trees. Blue crowned mot mots eat a range of different foods, including small creatures such as insects and lizards, as well as fruits.

Rheally hungry

The Pantanal is home to the greater rhea (rhea americana). This is a large flightless bird, reaching a height of about 1.7 metres. Rheas are omnivorous, eating a variety of different things, from lizards and grasshoppers to fruits and broad-leafed plants. With the recent floods, we have enjoyed watching these curious birds as they wade through fields of water, plucking leaves from plants and tossing them in their mouths.

Tiger heron family

During the last few months, our lodge has been home to a family of rufescent tiger herons (tigrisoma lineatum). The herons made a nest on the branch of a tree, 3 or 4 metres above the river inlet beside our lodge.
This species of heron gets its name from the white and black lines on its front, which resemble the lined pattern of a tiger. These birds are often found wading attentively beside a body of water. They are carnivorous and have a varied diet, taking fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans and molluscs. The photo below shows an adult tiger heron gulping down a water snake which it plucked from the shallow waters of a lake.


We were interested to see how the 2 juvenile tiger herons from the nest stayed very close to it, even when they were old enough to fly away. The photos below show one of the juveniles sitting on the nest and the other juvenile standing on a branch just metres from the nest. Notice the difference in their markings from the adult.

Hyacinth macaws

The hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is the largest species of macaw. It is an endangered species, but is locally common here in the Pantanal in Brazil. At our lodge, we have frequent sightings of all three of the large macaws which inhabit this area (the other 2 species include the red and green macaw and the blue and yellow macaw). The call of the hyacinth macaw is the sharpest and most coarse of these three large macaws, so they can often be recognized before they are seen. Hyacinth macaws love the seeds of the acuri palm tree. Here we see 4 of them ambling beside a salt lake, picking up the nuts of the acuri palm tree from the faeces of animals such as the South American tapir.

Although these birds look a little ungainly walking around, they seem to be quite happy walking around if this means that they will find a tasty morsel of food such as this!

Underwater magic

There is a huge draining field here, which in the dry season is completely dry. But when the surrounding rivers flood their banks, as they have done in recent months, the flood water spreads across this field.

The water sparks a remarkable transformation in the field, as the aquatic plants come to life here. These plants help to filter out any suspension in the water, making the water crystal clear.

The draining field is used by fish from the surrounding rivers as a place to reproduce.

The floods have arrived!

In the space of just over a month, our Pantanal home has been totally transformed by the annual floods. In this time, the river has risen by approximately 5 metres, meaning that many areas that were dry during the dry season, have now been gobbled up by the floods. The photo below shows an abandoned section of river beside our lodge, before the floods arrived...


And this next photo shows exactly the same place after the arrival of the floods...