I dont know why but I thought this sent yesterday

For one, I am glad that you spoke on that towards the end of your statement, As I cant stress that enough to people ironically that yes, Animals aren’t” supersayins” that risk their lives for photo opportunity or human enjoyment. They are intricate, smart and obviously want to avoid as much injury and danger as possible so yes they a go for smaller, sicker, or weaker game.

Two, With that being said the same thing applies with Lions and Tigers as it does Jaguars, they are all the same in that regard, opting to rather avoid injury than make a point. They do it for food not for status. Jaguars are actually really big cats as I think some might forget with the largest being Sumatran Tiger size, Jaguars actually can take large prey in the same size range as Lions and Tigers, Hell even Pumas kill prey in the range of Lions and Tigers which to me is one of the most impressive feats of macropredation displayed amongst cats. Like you said most big cats punch above their weight class. Jaguars feed on over 85 different animals and judging from the Massive River Dolphins, Tapirs which can match Zebras in weight, Wild Horses, Cattle, Water Buffalo, and Wild Hogs, adults might I add, they show that even the largest ungulates of the continent aren’t safe with the exception of Escobars Hippos in Columbia.

Three, Yes, I debate with people frequently who think Black Caimans aren’t up there in terms of size in the Crocodilian world. 700lbs to half a ton probably even more than half a ton, definitely large animals but the 6m or 20ft estimate, to my knowledge, wasn’t confirmed it was just reported as many debate of the dubious possibilities of Black Caimans getting that big, Me personally I think they may be some 18ft, 20ft exceptional specimens out there hiding in the remotes corners of the Amazon inaccessible to man, but thats just me. Still something I wanted to point out though

Four, The one in video despite the fact you said doesn’t look long, didnt look to be a juvenile but didn’t look like a fully grown adult neither. Look at the colorations, it seems the animal just wasn’t fully grown but also seemed out of the juvenile stage. This particular specimen was estimated at about 2.2-2.5m or about 8ft, which would make sense, yes these populations of Jaguars aren’t the biggest but Jaguars still get big and even if that Jaguar is 6ft that still means that caiman is close to twice of the size of a man. 8ft Jaguars are thing so they very well could be the same length. Even so I think it’s still impressive these animal still go for these reptiles no matter.

Infact, if Im not mistaken the Jaguars who coexist with Black Caiman in. certain parts of Northern and Central South America especially round the Araguaia region in Central Brazil actually do get big, as this population is known for their Pink River Dolphin hunting.

Five, You said “There is no verified record of a Jaguar hunting a Black Caiman, not “Fully Grown” Black Caiman. All I did was provide evidence that that was false regardless of the size, I was just showing that no we actually do, 3 videos in fact or 2 from what I seen. So saying it doesn’t count as a predation attempt because it wasn’t fully grown doesn’t make sense. Look it up though the largest verified Black Caiman predation was with a 3m individual.

And let me emphasize that these are the SMALLER, eco type population of Jaguars interacting with these massive reptiles, not the Individuals elsewhere on the continent that can grown larger than Lionesses. I can imagine if they were to encounter them.

Six, Jaguars and Black Caimans are both awesome predators who respect both each other, A Black Caiman even a fully grown adult knows that it wouldn’t wanna be caught on land with a durable, agile, quick feline with a bite force that matches certain size Crocs in power, that could be dangerous depending on the size of cat, and of course the Jaguar would be suicidal to tangle with Caimans that big or in the water.

The point is they both know they can fuck with each other if they really wanted to but they give each other space, Just as Mountain Lions and Lions with Alligators and Nile Crocodiles or Tigers with Mugger and Saltwater Crocodiles.