Jaguar love in the wild: first footage of a wild black jaguar mating

In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, researchers from the University of East Anglia have captured something never before documented - a black-coated jaguar mating in the wild with a spotted jaguar.

This rare footage, recorded in Serra do Pardo National Park along the Xingú River, offers a new window into the private lives of one of the world’s most elusive big cats.

Secluded hunters

Jaguars are solitary and secretive in nature, making them difficult to study in their natural habitat.

But during a biodiversity survey as part of an Amazon Biodiversity and Carbon (ABC) Expedition, researchers recorded a six-minute sequence showing a melanistic (black-coated) female and a spotted male mating.

Prof Carlos Peres, from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said: “We hit the proverbial jackpot and captured the first ever video trap footage of a black jaguar mating with a spotted male in the wild.

“The six-minute sequence reveals courtship and copulation, and if they’d moved a few meters we would have missed everything!

“Despite the vast size of the Pan-Amazon region, we still know surprisingly little about many of its species - especially how they behave in the wild. This footage not only adds to our understanding of jaguars, but also underscores how much remains to be discovered about the everyday lives of Amazonian wildlife.”

The footage offers a rare glimpse into a behaviour that’s almost never seen outside captivity.

“This is the first time we’ve captured a melanistic jaguar mating in the wild,” said Post Doctor Thomas Luypaert from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

Mating to mislead?

The footage showed a full sequence of courtship and copulation behaviours, similar to those previously documented in captive animals.

And to top it off, the camera caught not one, but two mating events.

Interestingly, the female appeared to show signs of lactation, such as swollen nipples. This raises the possibility that she was not in true oestrus, but instead exhibiting what researchers call “pseudo-oestrus” - a behaviour that may help protect cubs by confusing paternity.

“If the female was indeed lactating, it could mean she was using a ‘hide-and-flirt’ strategy, which is mating to confuse paternity and protect her cubs,” Luypaert explained. “That’s a possibility we can’t rule out.”

Different spots, same behaviour

Melanism in jaguars is caused by a genetic mutation and is more common in humid environments like the Amazon. While it’s often assumed that such a major difference in appearance might influence behaviour, the study found no clear differences in mating patterns between the melanistic female and her spotted counterpart.

“What surprised us most was how closely the wild behaviour mirrored what’s been observed in zoos,” said Luypaert. “It suggests that some aspects of jaguar courtship may be deeply conserved.”

This consistency could be good news for conservationists. Jaguars often struggle to reproduce in captivity, and understanding their natural behaviour may help improve breeding success.

“Understanding how jaguars behave in their natural environment is essential, not just for science, but for improving conservation and breeding programs worldwide,” Luypaert added.

The study’s findings could help refine artificial insemination timing and improve assessments of mate compatibility in captive settings. In the wild, such data provide a baseline for understanding reproductive health and social dynamics.

“Every new insight into jaguar behaviour helps us protect them better,” said Luypaert. “These animals are under pressure, and we need all the information we can get.”

Cameras: A whole new world

While this is just one observation, it highlights the value of camera traps and other non-invasive tools in studying elusive species.

“Camera traps are revolutionising how we study animals,” Luypaert said. “Without them, this moment would have gone completely unnoticed.”

The researchers hope that future studies will build on this work to explore whether melanism affects mating success, social behaviour, or other aspects of jaguar ecology.

“This is just one data point, but it opens the door to asking bigger questions,” Luypaert concluded.

The results are derived from the Amazon Biodiversity and Carbon (ABC) Expeditions. A project funded by the Research Council of Norway and led by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and University of East Anglia, UK, in conjunction with Brazilian Research Institutes.

The ABC Expeditions combine vegetation inventories and multi-taxa wildlife surveys to assess biodiversity and carbon stocks in severely under-sampled regions across the Brazilian Amazon.

For more information visit: https://www.abc-expeditions.com/

'First Record of Mating Involving a Melanistic Jaguar (Panthera onca) in the Wild: Novel Behavioural Insights Into Colour Morphs and Captive-Wild Comparisons' is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71776