ABOUT THE JAGUAR
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest cat in the world, after their lion and tiger cousins. Being the only living representative of the genus Panthera found in the New World, they once roamed from the southern tip of Argentina to the U.S.-Mexico border. Today they are listed as near threatened by the IUCN and large numbers on are only found in remote regions of South and Central America. The Pantanal holds the densest population of jaguars, estimating between 4,000-7,000 jaguars in the Pantanal alone.
WHAT IS A JAGUAR?
Name Origins
The name jaguar is rooted from the Tupi-Guarani word yaguar, which means “he who kills with one leap.” These majestic and unquestionably powerful beasts are regarded as a symbol of wildness and are prominent in ancient religion, mythology and art. The Maya believed the jaguar was the God of the Underworld and helped the sun travel under the Earth at night, ensuring it would rise in the morning. The Aztecs worshiped the jaguars and were positioned as guardians of their sacred temples.
Aren't They Leopards?
Jaguars are well-known by their distinctive spotted coat pattern but are often confused leopards. However, leopards are found in Africa and Asia and jaguars are only in the Americas. A clear difference in morphology is the jaguar spots, known as rosettes - which are larger, more exploded and always have small dots in the center of the larger spots. Another difference in the two-similar species is size; jaguars are much stockier, their limbs are shorter, head is broad and muscular, and they are an overall more powerful cat.
How Do They Hunt?
Jaguars are stalk and ambush predators and the only big cat that kills its prey by piercing the skull or neck with their powerful canines. Surprisingly, jaguars have the second strongest bite of all land mammals, thought to have evolved with their preference in armored reptilian prey, such as turtles and caimans. The “king of the jungle”, they are strong climbers and excellent swimmers, a jaguar's diet consists of over 85 different prey species—caiman and capybara being their favored prey in the Pantanal.
Reproduction?
Jaguars are non-seasonal breeders and will mate any time of the year, but there are trends in birth peaks that correlate with rainy season and prey availability. Jaguars are solitary predators, coming together for courtship and mating, leaving the female to raise her young alone. Gestation is roughly 100 days and can have from 1-4 cubs (average of two). Jaguars are known to have immense territories and documented home ranges of hundreds of miles. They mark territories with urine, scent markings and scratching trees.
JAGUAR FACTS
While these elusive cats once wandered throughout the Americas there is only an estimated 100,000 jaguars remaining in the world today.
Scroll to find out some fascinating feline facts...
Do the Roar!
Jaguars are are one of the four roaring cats. They roar in order to proclaim of their territory or bring together the two sexes.
ABOUT THE PANTANAL
The Pantanal is a mosaic of seasonally flooded wetland, grasslands, and woodlands that represents optimal jaguar habitat. In 2000, the Pantanal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being home to the world's largest freshwater wetland that is fed by tributaries of the Paraguay River. It is located mainly in western Brazil’s states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Depending on the year’s floods and droughts, it is estimated to be 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometers (54,000-75,000 square miles). It was defined by RADAMBRAZIL in 1982 to contain 12 various sub-regional ecosystems each having their own hydrological, geological, and ecological characteristics.
