The jaguar suspected of attacking and killing the caretaker of a fishing lodge in the Toro Morto region of the Pantanal in Mato Grosso do Sul has arrived at the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center (Cras).
The animal was captured next to the house where Jorge Avalo, 60, lived.
Researcher and expert in jaguar management from the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Gediendson Ribeiro de Araújo, coordinated the operation, which had the support of environmental police officers.
Ten traps were set on the property, and in the early morning, the jaguar appeared. Using a tranquilizer dart, the animal was sedated.
It is a 94-kilogram male.
He was taken to Cras, where he will undergo tests to determine his health status, whether this specimen actually attacked the caretaker, and the reason for the attack.
The journey from the Pantanal to the rehabilitation center in Campo Grande, the state capital, was made by boat and truck.
Images show the feline being monitored throughout the journey.
He was transported in a cage and had a wound on his snout.
According to researchers, the injury was already present on the animal before capture.
Biologist and researcher from the NGO Panthera Brasil, Fernando Tortato, said that removing animals from the environment is one of the measures adopted in cases of attacks on humans. He states that the decision must be made by the technicians who were on-site, based on the safety of the jaguar itself and the local people.
He also said that the animal's age could justify a preference for easier targets. Older jaguars, for example, have more difficulty hunting and end up attacking domestic animals.
He confirms that episodes involving humans are very rare.
Jorge Avalo was attacked in the early morning of April 21st. The following day, an expedition formed by environmental police officers, friends, and relatives of the caretaker found the man's remains 300 meters from the fishing lodge.
Security camera footage from the location captured jaguars roaming the property for several days.
The state government, responsible for ordering the animal's capture, said that Jorge Avalo was baiting the area to attract jaguars so that tourists could spot the largest feline in the Americas. Baiting involves placing food in specific locations and is prohibited because it changes the behavior of wild animals, which need to hunt their own food.
The caretaker's family denies this practice.
Jorge's body was buried after undergoing a series of forensic examinations at the Regional Legal Medicine Center of Aquidauana. The forensic report should be ready in 10 days, and signs indicating animal bites and claws were found on the victim's body.