Range and Habitat
Jaguars live in the Rainforests of South America. They live in the countries of southern Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Panama, El Salvador, Uruguay, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Surinam, and French Guiana. The jaguar prefers the dense lowland rainforests where it is humid and damp. They tend to avoid open grasslands and open, seasonally dry forests.
Physical Appearance
The jaguar is the largest South American cat. It is known as "El tigre" in much of its range. They are the most aquatic of all the cats, preferring to spend lots of time in the water. Jaguars are also the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere. Their body length can range from 158 - 237 cm, and their body weight ranges from 56 - 159 kg, with the females 20% smaller than the males. They have short dense fur that can be golden brown to yellow gold with white on the undersides and face, and is flanked with large black rosettes. Jaguars are much stockier, heavier, and longer than their leopard cousins, though they are often confused for one another.
Diet
Jaguars are very opportunistic hunters. They will eat anything in their territory. This includes turtles, tortoises, fish, alligators, monkeys, rodents, deer, wild pigs, tapirs, armadillos, and frogs. They will sometimes prey on domesticated animals when they run out of natural prey due to rain forest clearing. They kill by crushing the back of the skull with their powerful teeth. Jaguars love the water, and tend to live in areas around water. They are very strong swimmers. They will catch fish swimming in shallow waters. They can use their powerful jaws and teeth to open the shells of water turtles, so they can eat them. They also enjoy eating turtle and snake eggs, as well as snakes themselves. Jaguars have been seen eating anacondas. Attacks on people from jaguars have been recorded, but unlike the lion, tiger or leopard, they do not have a tendency to develop a "man-eating" habit.
Reproduction and Social Behavior
There is very little known about the life of wild jaguars. Like all the big cats, they have been hunted for their skin and body parts, causing them to become very endangered. The fact that they have been heavily hunted and have become so rare make them hard to study
Jaguars are solitary animals, like most cats, and only come together to mate. Females become sexually mature at 2-3 years, and males at 3-4 years. Females remain in estrus for 22 - 65 days. Mating is usually non-seasonal, but the cubs are more likely to be born in the wet season, corresponding to increase in prey. The female jaguar attracts the attention of area males by leaving scent signals on trees in the form of urine. When the male finds the female, they stay together only for a few days, just long enough to copulate.
Both males and females will mate with multiple partners during mating season. After a gestation period of 93-110 days, the female jaguar gives birth to 1-4 cubs. They begin to hunt on their own at 6 months of age. They remain with their mother for two years before leaving to start life on their own. The female will not have another litter until all the cubs from the previous litter have left. Jaguars have been known to live for 22 years in the wild.
Threats
The main threats to the jaguar are deforestation and poaching. Since jaguars prefer dense forests, removing the trees will cause them to be seen more out in the open, and when seen they are shot on sight. Ranchers also kill jaguars, fearing that they will kill their livestock. Ranchers allow their livestock to free-range, and become almost feral, so the jaguar takes livestock as prey often. Humans also compete with the jaguar for available prey. Fortunately, sport hunting jaguars for their skins has declined since the 1970's, so this is not as big of a threat to the jaguar.
By María Sol
Year 4
Schiller School