This is the incredible moment a jaguar and a small crocodile fought to the death after the fearsome big cat jumped 10 feet through the air from a tree.
Mr Dooley said the jaguar ‘never once broke its gaze’ from the caiman that was swimming in the river below in Pantanal, Brazil.
Wildlife photographer Kevin Dooley, 58, watched as a jaguar landed on the small crocodile, known as a caiman, before wrestling it to death
Footage shows the agile cat leaping from its resting spot on a branch in a tree before attacking the helpless reptile as it swam in the river
Soaring through the air, the jaguar chose the perfect moment to make its attack after silently watching the caiman for an hour
With its claws extended and its body fully extended the jaguar’s attack was ‘amazing to watch’. Photographer Kevin had been passing by in a boat when he stopped to watch the action unfold
After an hour of waiting, Kevin said the cat, ‘which kept as quiet as anything’, then pounced on the caiman when it began to swim towards a 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, as though it had got his dinner.
‘It left me speechless, the jaguar never once broke its gaze from the caiman in the river, I couldn’t believe it all happened in front of me.’
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.
Mr Dooley said the jaguar ‘never failed to break its gaze’ from the caiman that was swimming in the river below in Pantanal, Brazil
Kevin said the cat sat waiting for about an hour, without making a noise, before pouncing on the unsuspecting reptile as it swam in the river
He said: ‘It was amazing to watch. The jaguar jumped into the water and wrestled with the caiman, eventually killing it. It left me speechless’
Kevin, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, captured the rare pictures whilst touring the area in a boat. He continued: ‘It is one of those things that you hope doesn’t happen when you are resting your arms from the camera, because I was watching it through a lens the whole time’
Satisfied with its meal, the jaguar sinks its large teeth into the underside of the caiman’s throat to make sure it is definitely dead
‘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, captured the rare pictures whilst touring the area in a boat.
He continued: ‘It is one of those things that you hope doesn’t happen when you are resting your arms from 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.’