Jaguars
(Panthera onca) are the largest felid species in the New World and the only
member of the genus Panthera, the roaring cats, that occurs in the Americas.
They are the third largest cat species, being outsized only by lions (P.
leo) and tigers (P. trigris). Although not the largest felid, jaguars have
the strongest jaw in relation to head size of any of the cats, a fact that
should be remembered whenever planning to capture and immobilize these
animals. The body weight of jaguars is 90 - 120 kg for males and 60 - 90 kg
for females, with a large variation in body size. Jaguars live in a wide
variety of tropical habitats, ranging from montane forest and wet savannah
to tropical rain forest and deciduous tropical forest. The largest
documented jaguars occur in wet savannahs while jaguars that live in more
forested regions tend to be smaller in size
Zoological name: Panthera onca
Species: The jaguar is the largest species of cat native to the
Western Hemisphere. Jaguars are muscular cats with relatively short, massive
limbs and a deep-chested body.
Presence on the planet: Jaguars inhabit the rainforests of South
America. They occur in the countries of southern Mexico, Brazil, Argentina,
Costa Rica, Paraguay, Panama, El Salvador, Uraguay, Guatemala, Peru,
Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Surinam, and French Guiana. Jaguars used to
range as far north as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California,
but their population line has receded farther south. Their niche in these
areas has been taken over by the cougar.
Habitat: The jaguar prefers the dense lowland rainforests where it
is humid and damp. They aviod open grasslands and open, seasonally dry
forests.
Physical appearance: Jaguars are the largest cat in the western
hemisphere. In comparison with the leopard, the jaguar is generally larger
and much stockier, with a broad heavy head, much shorter legs and tail (a
good visual description might be a leopard on steroids). The background of
the jaguar's coat is a tawny-yellow, like many of the Asiatic leopards, and
lightened to whitish on the throat and belly. The jaguar is marked with
small isolated spots on the head and neck with dark open ring structures,
rosettes,on the sides and flank that generally contain one to four dark
spots inside the rings. Interestingly, the rosettes of the leopard and the
jaguar are almost identical with the exception of the jaguar having spots "inside"
the rosettes where the leopard has none. Along the middle of the jaguar's
back, a row of black spots may merge into a solid line. According to one
Indian myth, the jaguar acquired its spotted coat by daubing mud on its body
with its paws.
Diet: Their food habits are not well-known. In Mexico, they are
known to prey on peccaries; many of the Mexicans believe that each large
herd of peccaries is trailed by a jaguar so that he can feed on the
stragglers. They probably prey also on deer and large ground-dwelling birds.
Jaguars are reputed to be so destructive of cattle and horses that the
larger Mexican ranches retain a "tiger hunter" to kill them or at
least to drive them away. Jaguars are also fond of sea turtle eggs and they
roam the beaches on spring nights to dig up and eat the eggs that are buried
in the sand.
Reproduction & Offspring: Jaguars have no established breeding
season, with reproduction taking place any time during the year. A series of
roaring "calls" and urinary scent marking, by both sexes, help
amorous males locate receptive females during estrous. After maiting, the
pair separates, with the female providing all parenting for the resulting
offspring. Litters average one to four cubs, born blind with each weighing
two to two and one half pounds, after a gestation period of 95 to 105 days.
The cubs generally remain in the den where they were born for up to six
months. The coat of the jaguar cub is wooly with spots much like the adult
pattern, although the background color on the adult is more subdued. The
cubs are weaned by the age of three months when they begin to accompany
their mother on hunts, ultimately remaining with her for up to 24 months
when, they leave to establish territories of their own.
Conservation status: Deforestation rates are high in Latin America
and fragmentation of forest habitat isolates jaguar populations so that they
are more vulnerable to the predations of man. People compete with jaguars
for prey, and jaguars are frequently shot on sight, despite protective
legislation. Jaguars are also known to kill cattle, and are killed by
ranchers as pest species. The vulnerability of the jaguar to persecution is
demonstrated by its disappearance by the mid-1900's from the south-western
US and northern Mexico. Commercial hunting and trapping of jaguars for their
pelts has declined drastically since the mid-1970's, when anti-fur campaigns
and CITES controls progressively shut down international markets.
Status: CITES: Appendix I. IUCN: Near Threatened. The jaguar is
fully protected at the national level across most of its range, with hunting
prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela,
and hunting restrictions in place in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico
and Peru. The species also occurs within protected areas in some of its
range.
Life span: 20-22 years
The human-eaters!
Jaguars have a reputation for being human-eaters. However, numerous stories
of men being followed for miles through the forest by solitary jaguars may
suggest that they are merely escorting them off their territory and not
stalking them as prey. There are also stories from the Amazonian Indians
that tell of jaguars emerging from the forest to play with village children.
Jaguars are revered in many indigenous American cultures. The Maya believed
that the Jaguar, God of the Underworld, helped the sun to travel under the
earth at night, ensuring its new rising every morning.
