Jaguar (Panthera onca)

Jan 30, 2022 Interesting Creatures in Guyana

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Interesting Creature…

Kaieteur News – The jaguar is a big cat, and the only member of the Panthera genus (lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard and snow leopard) found in the Americas. It is larger than the leopard and snow leopard, but smaller than the lion and tiger. The jaguar can be found in the southwestern United States (rarely) and Mexico as well as across most of Central America. Its range continues well into South America as far as Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Its Scientific Name is Panthera onca and its Conservation Status is Near Threatened. There are no jaguar subspecies, according to recent assessments.
Interesting Facts About Jaguars
• Largest wild cat in the Western Hemisphere
• Third largest cat in the world.
• Loves bathing and swimming in water.
• Has the strongest jaw and bite of all the wild cats.
• It can kill by piercing the bones of the skull between the ears.

More About Jaguars
History
The jaguar has been an American cat since crossing the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene epoch.
Once, jaguars roamed over most of North America. Fossils have been found as far north as Missouri dating from the last Ice Age about 25,000 years ago.
Constantly pushed southward by a variety of factors, jaguars now can be found only in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and from Mexico all the way down to Patagonia.
There are only an estimated 15,000 jaguars in the wild in Mexico, Central and South America. Conservation efforts between the United States and Mexico have been successful at protecting a small population of cats in mountains of Sonora, Mexico.
Physical Appearance
The cat is covered in rosettes for camouflage in its forest habitat. The spots vary between individual jaguars. Rosettes may include one or several dots, and the shapes of the dots vary. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail, where they may merge to form a band.
Physically, with its spotted coat, the jaguar resembles the leopard except that it is larger, stronger and more muscular. Its fur is normally yellow and tan, but the colour can vary from reddish brown to black. A near-black form occurs regularly. Jaguars with dark pigmentation of the fur appear entirely black, although their spots are still visible on close examination. On all jaguars the spots on the coat are more solid and black on the head and neck and become larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body.
Sounds
Lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars are the only cats that can roar. The sound is produced by a specialised larynx and flexible bone in its throat and can be used to stake territory, communicate generally or express anger.
Habitat (Where the Jaguar Lives)
The jaguar can be found from Mexico all the way down to South America. This large wild cat prefers life in a dense rainforest but will also live across open terrains, deciduous forests, swamps, grasslands and mountain scrub areas.
Jaguars love the water and will bathe and swim, play and hunt to catch fish in pools or creeks.
Hunting & Prey (Diet)
With no predators, the jaguar is at the top of the food chain where it lives. The jaguar prefers stalking and ambushing its prey. The cat’s ambushing abilities are considered nearly peerless in the animal kingdom by both indigenous people and field researchers. Its exceptionally powerful jaw structure gives the jaguar the strongest bite force of all of the big cats enabling it to penetrate armoured reptile shells as well as the hardened skulls of other, larger animals. Unlike other cats, it can kill with a fatal bite between the ears, directly into the brain. The ambush may include leaping into water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming; its strength is such that carcasses as large as a heifer can be hauled up a tree to avoid flood levels.
In the food chain, the jaguar plays a vital part in stabilising ecosystems and keeping in check the populations of the animals within its range upon which this adept hunter depends for its survival. Jaguars are known to eat armadillos, birds, cattle, crocodiles, deer, eggs, fish, frogs, heifers, horses, mice and other rodents, monkeys, peccary, sloths, snakes, tapirs, turtles and anything else they can catch, up to 87 different species of animal and reptile food sources. Reportedly, while hunting horses, a jaguar may leap onto their back, place one paw on the muzzle and another on the nape and then twist, dislocating the neck. With smaller prey such as monkeys or wild dogs, a paw swipe to the skull may be sufficient to kill it.
Reproduction and Lifespan
Once old enough to leave its mother (12 to 24 months), a jaguar tends to live a solitary life as an adult, comfortable mostly on its own. Typical lifespan in the wild is estimated at around 12–15 years; in captivity, the jaguar lives up to 23 years, placing it among the longest-lived cats.
Jaguar Conservation Issues
Whereas the jaguar is near to being completely gone from the United States, it still exists in Mexico, Central and South America though is now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay. Elsewhere, jaguar populations are rapidly declining. The big cat is considered Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, meaning it may be threatened with extinction in the near future. Loss and fragmentation of habitat is a major threat to the jaguar. International trade involving jaguars or their parts is illegal but the cat is still frequently killed by ranchers and farmers in South America attempting to prevent jaguars hunting their stock. And poaching hasn’t stopped, nor is it prohibited in every country. (Source: https://bigcatswildcats.com)

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