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.

  

BIG CATS -- FAMILY FELIDAE -- ENDANGERED SPECIES

SNOW LEOPARD

All the big cats are carnivores and belong to the family of felidae. They evolved from a weasel-like miacids. Miacids lived on earth 50 million years ago in the Eocene period. They became so widespread that around 25 million years ago the period was named the Miocene. The most well-known of that period was the sabre tooth tiger. The fangs measured up to 20cm.  It is assumed that these creature hunted big plant-eating animals by slashing them

Nowadays, they developed a stalk and pounce method. With their retractable claws they move soft on their pads in a typical cat fashion. Then they spring at their victims with their powerful hind-legs and back.

The big cats are divided into seven species. They are the lion, leopard, tiger, snow leopard, clouded leopard, cheetah and the jaguar belonging to the Panthera genus. They all live in Africa and Asia with one exception the jaguar which lives in South America as well as in the south west of the United States of America.

The difference between the big cats and small cats is that the big cat lie with their front legs stretched out and the small cat tucks it under the front legs. Big cats lie down to eat and the small cats eat crouching down. Small cats burr breathing in and out but big cats roar breathing out.

The lion, tiger and leopard are typical big cats. The jaguar, snow leopard and clouded leopard differ from them because they do not roar. The snow leopard feeds crouching down like a small cat. The clouded leopard lies down with the front-paws tucked under like the small cats. They all have retractable claws but not the cheetah.

Since they are carnivorous they have to catch their prey either by stalk and pounce or scavenge their meat. Apart from the cheetah, the rest can only give chase for a short distance. The cheetah is remarkable because it is the fastest animals on earth. It also can chase its victim over a long distance and easily outrun it.

When the cat caught its prey it grips it with its jaws until the animal can't breathe anymore.  Another, they use to cover the prey's nose and mouth with its own mouth to stop it breathing and dies.

Most cats are solitary hunters. The tiger can bring down animals bigger than themselves. The cheetah, having a lightweight body, cannot bring down prey bigger than themselves. Lions hunt in group and have a technique that two of them panic the prey and chase it into the waiting group laying in ambush.

The future of those beautiful big cats is greatly in jeopardy. To begin with, one of their declines was the reason to be hunted for their beautiful coats. Nowadays, the reason is loss of habitat. Apparently, for some subspecies it is already too late. The big cats are mostly are vulnerable and some other are an endangered species. One thing which helps, the public is aware and the other through conservationists, land is declared as nature reserves in which no hunting is allowed, nor logging.

LIONESS

THE LIONS

The lion is the only big cat which lives in groups. The family groups are called a pride. All the other big cats are solitary animals and live in forests and bush. It could be because they live on the open plains that they adapted to this live style and with not a lot of cover they changed into hunting in a group. Each pride has up to 12 related females and up to five or six males.

The biggest and strongest of the males is the dominant over the pride. He also mates mostly with the female. If a male takes over a pride he usually kills the young ones of his predecessor. The male is a lot bigger than the female. It is the male who defends the territory. The females hunt for the whole pride. The male often steals the kill of other cats.

Lions do not have a specific mating season. The female gives birth after 100 to 119 days. Each female has about three to four cubs and all females in the pride have the task to help to rear them all. After about three months the cubs are being weaned and start on meat. They still suckle at the same time for another three months. They are mature enough to mate when they are about three or four years.

THE TIGER

The tiger has several subspecies and they are all endangered. The Siberian tiger is the largest cat of them all and can weigh up to 380kg. It develops a layer of thick fat to protect itselves against the harsh environment it lives in. It has to travel long distances in search of food in the winter.

The Indian and Bengal tiger is numerous. It marks its territory by spraying it with urine. It also scratches trees to mark it. The territory of the Bengal Tiger overlaps with two or three females and he will challenge any male trying to move in. The female brings up the cubs alone and they stay with her until they are about two years old. At the same time she will show them to hunt and defend themselves. Tigers live up to 15 years in the wild.

THE JAGUAR

Jaguars are one of the big cats living in the Americas. They live in dense woods, forest and open grasslands close to water. It lives solitary and hunts anything from deer to frogs. It also eats fish. It can climb well but mostly catches its prey on open ground. The jaguar is territorial and will defend it. The cubs also stay with the mother for about two years.

THE LEOPARD

The leopard is the most widespread and it is because it is so adaptable in habitat and food. It eats any meat and even scavenges from dustbins. When it gets challenged the leopard carries his heavy prey up the tree and puts it safely onto the branches.  It is a great climber.

It is ready to mate at about 30 months and the female gives birth to three or four cubs. She rears them by herself. When they are 18 months they leave her protection and start living on their own. The female cubs usually stay closed and sometime share the territory. Some leopards are black and called black panthers.

THE CHEETAH

The cheetah has a lot of problems. It needs an open ground with enough cover to conceal itself. It also has a restricted diet. It is timid and shy and will be dominated by lions and leopards. When challenge it will leave the kill to them without a growl. Yet she has a unique grace when chasing prey.

The cheetah's claws are retractable and therefore blunt. It uses its powerful dew claw to trip up the prey.

The cubs are very vulnerable and often fall prey to lions and leopards. They are even in danger from their own kind. When a male wants to mate with the female, he holds her prison and let the cabs starve to death or their cry for food are heard and killed by other predators

THE SNOW LEOPARD

The snow leopard lives in a cold climate and at a high altitude between 3000m and 4000m. Even sometimes as high as 6000m. It lives in woodland. In the winter it moves down to a lower altitude in search of food. He eats mammals from a size of gazelles to hares.

It hunts at night and is very shy. It adapted itself to the harsh environment. His coat is thick and long and his paws are covered with hairs. In the winter it turns whiter for camouflage. During the mating season the snow leopard hunts in pairs and this adds to a successful hunt to feed the cubs.

THE CLOUDED LEOPARD

The clouded leopard is classed as a species between the big cats and the small cats. It lives in the forests of south-east Asia and lives mostly up in the trees. It hunts monkeys and tree dwelling animals. It is a superb climber and descends head first. It 'bat' its prey with its strong paws. When it hunts on the ground it uses the same method. It swings from the tree and drops down onto its prey.