Jaguar
© David Tomlinson
Jaguar
Scientific name Panthera onca
The Jaguar is found in Central and South America.
In these countries: Mexico down through
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica,
Panama,
Colombia,
Venezuela,
Ecuador,
Click here
to find out
which countries
the Jaguar can
be found in
Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru,
Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
What habitat do they live in?
© John Burton/ WLT
1
Jaguars can live in rainforest and
woodland.
Click to find out
Rainforest in Argentina
© Alberto Yanosky
2
Jaguars can live in dry grassland,
forest and desert.
Dry forest in Paraguay
© WLT
3
Jaguars can live in swamp areas
and flooded grassland.
Pantanal (wetland) in Paraguay
Why are they threatened?
Jaguars sometimes hunt cattle and so are often
shot by farmers and ranchers.
Jaguar in captivity © Kelly Jacobs/WLT
Because of habitat destruction, many Jaguar
populations have become separated from each other
Why does habitat destruction threaten the Jaguar?
andClick
theyhere
cannot
move about over a large area, or mix
to find out
with other Jaguars, and this makes them vulnerable
(an easy target for human hunters).
How do they communicate?
A Jaguar makes scratch
marks on trees to let
other Jaguars know they
are around.
© Silvia Centron
Click to see a Jaguar
footprint next to a
penknife in Paraguay
Click to see Jaguar
scratches on a tree in
Paraguay
Jaguar footprints are
sometimes found in
the mud in the wild.
© Rebecca Absalom/WLT
Although it can roar, the Jaguar is more likely to be
heard
or coughing.
Whenthis
they
What grunting
sort of noises
do you think
bigare
cat makes?
threatened
Click to find outJaguars will snarl or growl, but during the
mating season they will mew.
What do they eat?
Jaguars are carnivores and will eat almost
anything they can catch.
Click to see
Click to see
Capybara
Click to see
Altogether Jaguars may eat up to 85
different types of animal.
Sloths
Click to see
Caiman (an alligator-like reptile)
Click to see
Deer
Click to see
They will also eat tapir, birds, monkeys, fish, turtles, and domestic
cattle.
Images © Chris Knowles, Alan Martin, Kelly Jacobs/WLT
Peccaries (a pig-like animal) Armadillos
How long do they live?
In captivity one female reached 32 years old (but
wild Jaguars may live less than half this age).
Jaguar caught in a camera trap in the forest in Mexico
© Roberto Pedraza
How big are they?
From nose to tail they can be more than 2 metres
Look at the picture above, how long –from nose to taillong,
paw
togrow?
shoulder
theytocan
be 70 cm
do
you and
think from
a Jaguar
can
Click here
find out
tall.
What do they look like?
Jaguar in captivity © Kelly Jacobs/WLT
Jaguars have a
patterned coat that
can be a tawnygolden colour or
black.
They have spots inside the black
circles (which are called rosettes)
on their fur.
Jaguars have shorter
legs than many other big
cats and a muscular
build.
Click to learn about black Jaguars
Black Jaguars are sometimes called panthers (black leopards
are also called panthers), but they are still the same species,
just a different colour.
Tell me about their babies:
Adult Jaguars are solitary animals, males and
females only come together to mate.
A female Jaguar will raise 2 cubs, and they
will stay with her for 2 years.
Can you see the
Jaguar resting in the
rainforest in Belize?
© Sarah Nash
Click here for arrow
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.
Jaguars are good swimmers, and they
often live close to water.
A story from the wild:
Jaguar are very shy and good at hiding also they are
mostly active at night, and so are not seen during the
day very much.
© Roberto Pedraza
This is Roberto. He is
attaching
a camera trap to a
So how do we take pictures
of Jaguar?
tree in Mexico. When the
Click here to find out
camera senses movement,
it will take a picture.
© Roberto Pedraza
This is a picture of Roberto and his
Click here to see the first picture this camera trap took
work friends that the camera took as
they walked away.
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.
© Roberto Pedraza
This is a large male Jaguar. Camila could
probably
Jaguar
in the forest
and
Click here to see what
Robertosmell
foundthe
when
he checked
the
this made her scared.
camera trap
Roberto is really happy that a male Jaguar is
living in this area of protected forest.
Click here to learn why taking pictures of Jaguar is so important
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.
© Silvia Centron
If you choose the Jaguar as your fundraising focus,
your donation will go towards World Land Trust
projects for the conservation of wildlife habitat in the
Atlantic rainforest in Argentina.