The largest, most powerful cat in the New World. Jaguar or jaguara is the South American Indian name for the animal; it is also known as el tigre and spotted king cat. The range of the jaguar, Panthera onca, extends from Central America through South America to northern Argentina. Its principal habitats are forests and grasslands, but it is also found in semiarid regions with scrub vegetation.
Although resembling the leopard in many ways, the jaguar is larger, more heavily built, and has a shorter tail. A torn (male) stands 20 to 30 inches (51-76 cm) at the shoulder, has an overall length of 6 to 8 feet (1.8-2.4 meters), and weighs 175 to 250 pounds (79-113 kg). Very large animals, particularly those from the Amazon re¬gion, may be almost 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh as much as 300 pounds (136 kg). The female is smaller than the male. The jaguar’s short fur is usually golden yellow marked with rosettes, or broken rings of black. The yellow centers of the rosettes are marked with small black dots. Some jaguars have a black coat with almost invisible rosettes.
The jaguar is solitary in its habits. On the trail it utters a series of low, guttural grunts; at night it emits a deep roar. Unless provoked the jaguar is not usually aggressive but is a rather curious animal that will follow a traveler through the forest with great interest and without any malicious intent. However, occasionally a jaguar will attack a man. The jaguar usually preys on large game such as deer, peccaries, and tapirs, but it also feeds on many kinds of birds, monkeys, foxes, rodents, and turtles. A strong swimmer, it often will not abandon an intended victim that tries to seek safety in the water. It digs up turtle eggs that are buried in the sand along ocean beaches and occasionally attacks a sleeping alligator. It will crouch on a low branch or a rock that offers convenient access to the water and skillfully hook fish from the river with a sweep of its paw.
There is no fixed breeding season for the jaguar. The female is ready to mate in the third year, and from two to four kittens are born about 100 days later in a den in the rocks, in dense brush, or in a hollow tree. The kittens are more heavily marked than the adult and have spots rather than rosettes. Both parents are active in raising the young, and the family does not break up until the kittens are about a year old. A jaguar has a life expectancy of about 20 years.
Jaguars have been decimated over much of their former range, which once extended from the extreme southern United States to southern Argentina. The destruction of their habitat for human settlement, the value of their pelt in the fur trade, and hunting by ranchers attempting to protect their cattle have all played a part in reducing the number of jaguars. Presently, they are classified as vulnerable and endangered, and national and international conservation measures have been undertaken for their protection.
