Mary Allen
The jaguar belongs to the cat family. It is the third largest big cat after the tiger and the lion. Its fur is golden yellow with brown spots. They have a black border. The spots on the head are black. When all the fur is all black, it is called a panther or a black panther. But that’s also what black leopards are called.
Jaguars live in North and South America, preferably in the Amazon rainforest. They like dense forests and the proximity of rivers. However, they can adapt very well and therefore also like dry forests, savannas, semi-deserts, and bushy or swampy areas. Jaguars have also been observed high up in the mountains.
How do jaguars live?
Unfortunately, not much is known about it yet. Jaguars are rarely seen. It’s also difficult to stun them with one shot to make them fall asleep. Then you could put a collar on them with a transmitter and track their progress. Sometimes scientists have succeeded in doing this. There are also observations in zoos, but the animals behave differently there.
Jaguars are good climbers, although they are quite heavy. However, young animals climb more frequently than their parents. They can also swim very well and far, otherwise, only tigers can do that. But they rest almost half of the day.
Jaguars hunt and eat almost a hundred different types of prey. Most important are deer, armadillos, special pigs, and many other mammals that do not exist here. But they also like waterfowl, fish and smaller caimans. They crack open a turtle with their strong jaws and teeth without difficulty.
Jaguars are solitary animals that claim large areas for themselves. The males mark their territory with their urine or by scratching tree bark. Most of the time, they respect each other’s territories and avoid each other.
The territories of males and females overlap. But they only meet to mate. The female carries her young in her abdomen for a little over three months. She usually gives birth to two cubs. Each weighs about a pound. They only get milk from their mother to drink. At the age of two to three months, they also eat meat that the mother has hunted. In order for the young animals to be able to leave their mother, they must be about one and a half or two years old.
Are jaguars endangered?
Jaguars are the strongest animals in their habitat. They, therefore, have no enemies among the animals. It is impossible to say whether other big cats would be stronger. They never meet in nature.
Despite this, there are far fewer jaguars today than there used to be. Your enemy is the man. In the United States, for example, hunters shot the last jaguar in 1965. Jaguars have returned there since then, but very few.
A major problem is the destruction of their habitats, especially the reduction of the rainforest. As a result, the jaguars are less able to raise their young and find fewer and fewer prey animals. If they then eat animals from the farms, they are even more hunted down and killed.
The jaguar is therefore an endangered species and is under protection. You can’t sell your fur either. However, this is still done because the hunters and traders can earn a lot of money with it.
The jaguar is not endangered, but there are only about 20,000 jaguars left on earth. Many animals are also kept in zoos and exchanged with each other so that the young animals remain healthy.