JAGUAR

JAGUAR

The jaguars are few and far between because they were ruthlessly hunted for their fur.  Therefore, scientists were not able to study their way of life. They were hunted by ranchers and hunters and their numbers and its range is drastically reduced.

Almost one million years ago the jaguar was roaming South America, southern USA, as far north as Texas and Florida. Since 1940 there has not been one sighting in the wild of the USA. Furthermore, most resident populations were hunted down in southern central America by the beginning of the 20^th century.

The jaguar loves travelling and some did wonder into the USA from Mexico.  Cattle ranchers saw them as pest and their faith was sealed.

Today, the Jaguar’s home is the forests and savannas of South America. However, to be seen in the truly wild, apart from reserves and national parks, will be more than rare. It is thought and hoped the Jaguar still has a range from the north of South America down to central Patagonia. Since the jaguar travels far distances it lost a lot of his haunts through deforestations.  Driven by it to extremes it has been sighted in scrub and even semi-desert areas.

As all these big cats the jaguar is a magnificent animal. At one time it had been killed by its thousand for the beautiful coat. The colours of its coats ranges from pale yellow to reddish brown but it is usual a bright yellow and has a pale buff on the underside. The pattern has darker spots and is shaped into large rosettes. The legs and head have smaller spots and towards the end of the tail the rosettes form incomplete bands. It has also been noted that some are dark or black but still show vaguely the pattern of rosettes.

JAGUAR BLACK OR
 BLACK PANTHER

Comparing the jaguar with its close relative the leopard; the jaguar is a little larger and has a shorter tail. The reason for a shorter tail is because it lives less in the trees and therefore doesn’t need a long tail to balance. Nevertheless the jaguar is a good climber and is at home in trees.

PECCARIES WITH ITS YOUNG

CAPYBARAS

MERCILESS  KILLER

Jaguar is a perfectionist of a killer. He hunts on the ground and stalks and ambushed its prey. He drags his kill into a shelter spot and eats his fill. The leftover of meat he buries. He kills mostly peccaries and capybaras but also kills deer, monkeys, tapirs, crocodilians, turtles and small rodents.  Big Cats usual attack herds of will hoofed animals but South America does not have these and therefore the jaguar kills cattle and sheep when he sees them. This brings him into conflict with farmers.

The jaguar loves to swim and live near rivers and lakes. It is a good swimmer; it also hunts fish, frogs and any aquatic life it comes across. Amazonian Indians stated that the jaguar twitches its tail to attract fish. It throws the fish onto the bank with its front paws. It also had been seen to dig up and eat turtle eggs.

NIGHT HUNTER

The jaguar has the most excellent night vision of all cats. The pupils expand so much it almost fills the eye.  A reflective layer behind the retina enables the cells to make the most of dim light. It is usual active by night and sleeps during the day in caves or sheltered spots. Like all casts it is a loner and wonders through its territory. The territories vary according to its prey. On average the female has a territory of 38sqkm and it thought the male has twice the size. The male’s territory overlaps several females. Female and males mark their territories with urine and the key tree with their claws.

BREEDING

In captivity they breed any time but in the wild they do have specific breeding seasons. When the female is in season she wonders further than her territory and the male will with her.

The jaguar’s gestation period varies from 93-105 days and it gives birth to one to four caps. Usual it is two cups and they are born fully furred and heavily spotted. They weigh 700-900g each. Their eyes open with two weeks and suckle up to six weeks.

The female brings them up all by herself but the male does stay close by and keeping his distance. He also does bring her food and she shares it later on with her cups. The cups stay with their mother for about two years. They only reach their full size and sexual maturity in another year after that.

PROTECTED SPECIES

It is thought that there are eight subspecies and some are more than rare. They are also under the great danger of extinction like all the big cats.  The reasons vary from hunted for sport, their fur, endanger the farmers’ livestock and destroying their habitat.  Recognizing the great danger extinction they are now a protected species. There is also an established reserve in Belize called the Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve.

Hope this will all help to preserve the jaguar which is a beautiful animals although completely wild and untameable the world would have a great loss if destroyed completely.

MORE INTERESTING DATA

The greatest demand for jaguar skin was in 1960. There were 15,000 killed every year in the Amazonian region of Brazil and more than 13,500 pelts were exported to the USA in 1968.

The jaguar means in the American Indian language “the killer that tales its prey in a single bound.”

The jaguar was not always killed by man. In pre-Colombian cultivations the jaguar was seen in their religion as the god in Mexico, Guatemala and Peru.

The jaguar is the only cat in North America which can roar but it doesn’t do it very often. It mostly grunts, snarls and growls. It softly mews during mating season.