A Novel Item, Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) Used as Food by a Jaguar (Panthera onca) in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Using a GPS satellite collar, we tracked a jaguar close to Playa del Carmen city in Quintana Roo, Mexico from Jan. to Dec. 2013. We observed the jaguar recurrently used a cenote located near the Playa del Carmen city landfill. We searched on two occasions for potential prey items killed by the jaguar and also set two camera traps on the cenote area. We found the carcasses of two black vultures probably eaten by the jaguar, and we also obtained photographic evidence of the jaguar with a black vulture in its mouth. The photo, along with other evidence, reveals the potential significance of vultures as prey for this endangered species in areas where, due to subsistence hunting and urban expansion, jaguar‘s usual prey species have low abundances.