Colombia ( Jaguar Kills Fisherman on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast )

BOGOTA – A fisherman was killed by a jaguar in a rural area outside Turbo, a city in northern Colombia, in the second attack of this kind in the area since April, media reports said.

Matias Escarpeta, who was originally from the city of Quibdo in Choco province but lived in Turbo, was killed by the big cat on Thursday, the El Colombiano newspaper reported.

Escarpeta’s body was taken to the morgue in Turbo on Friday, the newspaper said.

Escarpeta was attacked and killed while checking his nets in Bocas del Atrato, a village on the Gulf of Uraba, police said.

Jaguars are common in the area and have managed to survive even though palm plantations have destroyed their natural habitat.

A jaguar killed a heavy machine operator in Bocas del Atrato in April.

The case has been referred to the Uraba Public Development Corporation, or Corpouraba, the agency responsible for protecting the area’s wildlife and plants, in the hopes that it can prevent residents from hunting the jaguar, police said