The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. It is the largest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. The jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of indigenous peoples of the Americas, including those of the Aztec and Maya civilizations.
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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Ambush predatorAmbush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey by stealth, luring, or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an elemen...
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Apex predatorAn apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain and has no natural predators. These animals usually occup...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe jaguar has a compact body, a wide head, and powerful jaws. The coat is usually yellow and tan, but colors can range from black to reddish brown. The spots on its coat are more defined and black on its head and neck, becoming larger rosette-shaped patterns on the sides and back. Jaguars living in forests are often darker and considerably smaller than those living in open areas, possibly due to the smaller numbers of large, herbivorous prey in forest areas. Jaguars have powerful jaws with the third-highest bite force of all felids, after the tiger and the lion
Jaguars are widely distributed, inhabiting New Mexico and southern Arizona south toward northeastern Brazil and northern Argentina. Populations have been drastically reduced or in some areas and even eliminated, including the United States, El Salvador, and large parts of Mexico. Jaguars like thick, moist tropical lowland forests with plenty of cover, but can be found in reed thickets, scrubland, coastal forests, thickets, and swamps. They are superb swimmers and are usually found living near water: rivers, slow-moving streams, watercourses, lagoons, and swamps.
The jaguar is a solitary creature aside from the first couple of years, spent with their mother. Males are very territorial, with their home range overlapping that of several females, but are prepared to defend it fiercely from other males. They are dependent on water, particularly during the dry season, seeking relief from the heat. They are very good swimmers and are very fast when moving through the water, especially when pursuing their prey. They have been recorded moving between islands and the shore. Jaguars are also good at climbing trees but do so less often than cougars. Near dusk and dawn, they are most active, tending to rest during the mid-morning and afternoon. When resting they lie under thick vegetation in deep shade or under large rocks or in caves. When hunting, jaguars use a stalk-and-ambush strategy. They will slowly walk down forest paths, listening for and stalking prey before rushing or ambushing. The jaguar attacks from cover and usually from a target's blind spot with a quick pounce. The ambush may include leaping into the water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. In order to communicate with each other jaguars roar or grunt for long-distance communication. Chuffing is produced by individuals when greeting, during courting, or by a mother comforting her cubs. Cubs have been recorded bleating, gurgling, and mewing.
The jaguar's diet mostly consists of medium sized mammals, such as deer, capybara, tapirs and peccaries, which they silently stalk through the thick jungle. In water, jaguars hunt fish, turtles, and even small caiman. The jaguar is an aggressive and formidable hunter and is believed to eat over 80 different animal species.
Jaguars are polygynous meaning that males mate with more than one female during the breeding season. Mating usually increases from December through March. Throughout the mating season, females will call loudly to attract males into their territory. Females generally give birth to between 2 to 3 cubs, following a 91 -111-day gestation period. Once the cubs are born, females will not tolerate a male in her territory, being very protective of the cubs. The young are born with closed eyes but open them after 2 weeks. They are weaned at the age of 3 months but remain in the birth den for 6 months before leaving to accompany their mother on hunts. The young remain with their mothers for up to 2 years of age. Females become reproductively mature between 12 and 24 months, and males when they are 24 to 36 months old.
Once living throughout South America, jaguars have been hunted mainly for their fur, teeth and paws. Despite legal protection fewer people hunting them for their fur, jaguars are now at risk due to loss of habitat mainly because of deforestation, so they are being pushed into the more remote parts of their native range.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, jaguars number only 15,000 in the wild. Currently, this species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are decreasing.
The jaguar is an apex predator, meaning it is at the top of the food chain and is not preyed upon in the wild. It is a keystone species, as it is assumed that it controls the population levels of prey such as herbivorous and seed-eating mammals and thus maintains the structural integrity of forest systems.