JaguarJaguar

© David TomlinsonJoaquín Cupén

Jaguar

Scientific name Panthera onca

In these countries: Mexico down through Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.

The Jaguar is found in Central and South America.

What habitat do they live in?

Jaguars can live in swamp areas and flooded grassland.

Jaguars can live in rainforest and woodland.

Jaguars can live in dry grassland, forest and desert.

Rainforest in Argentina

Dry forest in Paraguay

Pantanal (wetland) in Paraguay

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Why are they threatened?

Because of habitat destruction, many Jaguar populations have become separated from each other and they cannot move about over a large area, or mix with other Jaguars, and this makes them vulnerable (an easy target for human hunters).

Jaguars sometimes hunt cattle and so are often shot by farmers and ranchers.

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What do they eat?

They will also eat tapir, birds, monkeys, fish, turtles, and domestic cattle.

Jaguars are carnivores and will eat almost anything they can catch.

Altogether Jaguars may eat up to 85 different types of animal.

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Peccaries (a pig-like animal) Armadillos Capybara

Sloths Caiman (an alligator-like reptile) Deer

Click to see Click to see Click to see

Click to see Click to see Click to see

How long do they live? In captivity one female reached 32 years old (but wild Jaguars may live less than half this age).

From nose to tail they can be more than 2 metres long, and from paw to shoulder they can be 70 cm tall.

How big are they?

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Jaguars are good swimmers, and they often live close to water.

Interesting facts:

Jaguars do not chase their prey like many other big cats, but hide and jump out at it.

The name Jaguar comes from the native American word ‘yaguar’ which means ‘animal that kills with one bound’.

Jaguars have large heads and big teeth. They have a very strong bite – they can crack open tortoise and turtle shells.

A story from the wild:Several days later Roberto came back to see if any photos had been taken while he was away.

Roberto noticed that his dog, Camila, was very quiet, instead of running around the forest she walked very close to him.

Click here to see what Roberto found when he checked the camera trap

This is a large male Jaguar. Camila could probably smell the Jaguar in the forest and this made her scared.

The habitat of Jaguars in Central and South America is shrinking all the time, and Jaguars are still hunted by people in some places. So knowing where they live in order to protect their habitat is really important.

Click here to learn why taking pictures of Jaguar is so important

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Pe

draza Roberto is really happy that a male Jaguar is

living in this area of protected forest.THE END