2024 Edition

Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar

Face to Face

Jaguar trying to feed on a pig, Mexico, 2021

Category - Humanity Versus Nature

Face to Face

Thanks to a camera trap, I was able to capture this all-too-common scene of a jaguar braving the dangers of a busy area to feed. Here, the predator tries to attack a pig in a recreated Mayan village in Quintana Roo, Mexico, a place that is visited by tourists every week.  Due to deforestation, habitat fragmentation and illegal hunting, which drastically reduces the volume of potential prey, jaguars are forced to approach populated areas in the Yucatan Peninsula. They are frequently seen around Mayan villages, ranches and urban areas, in search of cattle or other domestic animals. The result is a real conflict of cohabitation with ranchers and community members, who more often than not end up succeeding in killing these cats.

RUNNER UP

10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens - 1/125 sec at f/7.1 ISO 400