Jaguar Orphaned By Wildfires As Cub And Domesticated Is Rescued By Cops After Becoming Threat

This is the moment the police rescue a domesticated jaguar that was saved as a cub during the 2020 Brazil wildfires and has started hunting livestock and grown into a potential threat.

The jaguar, named Marrua, lived on a farm in the municipality of Caceres in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, where it became relatively domesticated.

The police arrived to take the animal away after its owners said it had started disappearing for several days at a time, often hunting livestock, and they were worried it might attack someone.

The team that did the rescue of a jaguar that was domesticated by employees of a farm after losing its mother in the fires that occurred in the Pantanal in 2020, near Caceres, Brazil, on 3rd February. (PMMT/Newsflash)

Environmental Military Police corporal Daniel Silva Mendes said he was scared when he first arrived at the farm and the owner told him to let the jaguar smell him first, but was surprised when the domesticated animal behaved “just like a cat”.

He said: “She came calmly towards us and sniffed me. After that, she turned into a cat, rubbing on my legs, passing through my legs, just like a cat.”

Silva Mendes said the jaguar had been well cared for by the family and had no apparent illnesses or injuries, adding that it will undergo health checks and treatment for possible reintegration into the wild.

The rescue of a jaguar that was domesticated by employees of a farm after losing its mother in the fires that occurred in the Pantanal in 2020, near Caceres, Brazil, on 3rd February. (PMMT/Newsflash)

The police said the animal was orphaned during the 2020 Brazil rainforest wildfires and appeared at the farm one day.

Time passed and the animal grew. In recent months, the jaguar had started to leave the farm to hunt in the wild and return two or three days later.

Silva Mendes explained: “She started to eat calves from the farm and everyone was worried because, even though she is domesticated, she is still a wild animal. They were afraid she would attack someone.”

The rescue of a jaguar that was domesticated by employees of a farm after losing its mother in the fires that occurred in the Pantanal in 2020, near Caceres, Brazil, on 3rd February. (Sema-MT/Newsflash)

As a result, the owner called the Environmental Police to organise the big cat’s rescue.

In addition to Marrua, it is estimated that around 4.65 billion animals were affected by the wildfires in 2020.