We were on a boat on the Três Irmãos River in Encontro das Águas State Park in Brazil’s Pantanal. We were following a jaguar and her cub and they disappeared into the aquatic vegetation. Moments later, I heard the sound of a jaguar roaring in a fight. Soon after, she appeared in the river and was carrying something just below the water’s surface. I initially thought it was a caiman, but it was a yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus). For a few seconds, the anaconda tried to fight back, lifting its head from the water in an attempt to strike at the jaguar, but eventually the reptile was killed.
Ary Nascimento Bassous
Ary Nascimento Bassous (@arybassous) witnessed an incredible showdown between a jaguar and an anaconda while boating through the Três Irmãos River in Brazil ‘s Encontro das Águas State Park. The anaconda fought for its life, but the jaguar ultimately won the struggle.
“Moments like this are the climax for a wildlife photographer,” Bassous says in an email, who also credited the skills and experience of his guide and boat driver Julinho in helping to capture that split second moment.
He advised photographers and other nature lovers to avoid interfering with wildlife, and to simply observe. “Have the patience to let things happen,” he says. “They will happen. Nature is amazing. Trusting local knowledge is fundamental.”
Emily Dahl filmed this pair of beaver kits sharing a meal together as the sun set over eastern Massachusetts. These kits are the descendants of beavers that were successfully reintroduced to New England early in the 20th century, after over-hunting eradicated them from the region.
In the early morning blue hour, St. Lenart Church in Crni Vrh, Slovenia, stands like a beacon above the snow-covered landscape. Its warm lights cut through the cold, creating a perfect contrast between winter stillness and human presence.
Nina Lozej
Nina Lozej (@ninalozej) captured this serene view of St. Lenart Church in Crni Vrh, Slovenia. From its hilltop perch in the middle of the twilight winter landscape, the scene looks like it belongs in a snow globe.