A male jaguar called "Scarface" attacks and kills a crocodile in the Pantanal River in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
A male jaguar called "Scarface" attacks and kills a crocodile in the Pantanal River in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Photograph by Steve Winter, National Geographic

Photos Show Jaguar 'Scarface' Taking Down Dangerous Prey

Jaguars have some of the most powerful bites of any big cat. They can kill and paralyze prey instantly.

When big cat photographer Steve Winter went to Brazil's Pantanal National Park in 2016, he was on a mission to document jaguars. And in the story of how he got one of his most incredible shots, Scarface is his protagonist.

Winter had been trailing the 10-year-old alpha jaguar non-stop for four days. Traveling down a river that cuts through dense Brazilian forest, Winter and his cameraman Bertie Gregory had seen the large cat with a split lip lunge at and miss over a dozen previous targets. They were beginning to think they wouldn't document a kill.

The lack of progress was getting to him, Winter recounts. Sitting under an umbrella rigged into a fishing pole holder, Winter sat

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