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The jaguar is the largest feline in the Americas and the third largest in the world

Image: Ramon Vloon on Unsplash

The jaguar , scientifically called panthera onca, is the largest cat on the American continent and the third largest in the world, after only tigers and lions. A Brazilian flag species, the jaguar is important for conservation actions in several Brazilian phytophysiognomies (Atlantic Forest, Amazon Forest, Cerrado and Pantanal).

Jaguar Characteristics

It is a predatory animal, carnivorous and with a robust body, endowed with agility and great muscular strength. The power of its bite is considered the greatest among all felines that exist.

Like lions, tigers and leopards, the jaguar emits a series of loud snores, called roars, which can be heard for miles. The species has a golden-yellow fur with black spots on the head, neck and feet. On the shoulders, back and flanks, it has dots forming rosettes that, inside, have one or more points.

Jaguars have solitary habits and, in addition, they are territorial. This means that they mark their territory with urine, excrement and claw marks on trees.

The family of felines, scientific name Felidae, covers mammal animals that walk on their fingertips and are carnivores. It is further divided into two subfamilies: the Pantherinae (which includes tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards and leopards) and feline (which includes cheetahs, pumas, bobcats, ocelots and domestic cats).

Jaguar or leopard?

Despite belonging to the same family and genus, and having similar physical characteristics, jaguars and leopards are from different subfamilies and have differences in fur design and size. Furthermore, the two animals inhabit different regions on the planet.

Jaguars are found in Latin America, while leopards live in Africa and Asia. Jaguars weigh approximately 110 kg, being larger than leopards at 80 kg. They also have large teeth and jaw muscles. Regarding the coat, leopards have smaller and less complex rosettes, grouped closer together.

Ecology and habitat

As jaguars are predatory animals, located at the top of the food chain, and need large preserved areas to survive, they are considered a biological indicator of environmental quality. The occurrence of these cats in a region indicates that it offers conditions that allow their survival.

There are records of the occurrence of jaguars from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina, but currently the jaguar is extinct in these territories. The species can still be found in Latin America, including Brazil, in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, and in open environments such as the Pantanal and the Cerrado.

The jaguar's natural prey consists of wild animals such as collared peccaries, capybaras, peccaries, deer and armadillos. However, when the number of natural prey decreases due to human activities, for example, jaguars feed on other animals, such as frogs. They usually attack the animal's head and neck, which can die from brain damage or suffocation, considering the strength and effectiveness of its bite.

The increasing environmental changes caused by humans, such as deforestation and hunting of wild prey and jaguars themselves, are the main causes of the decrease in the jaguar population in Brazil. Reducing these threats is critical to ensuring their survival and ecosystem integrity. Furthermore, by helping to balance the populations of other animals, the jaguar plays a very important ecological function.

reproduction

As they are solitary, jaguars only interact with other individuals of the species during the mating season. Females reach sexual maturity at around two years of age, and may have their first offspring at three years of age. Males, on the other hand, reach maturity at approximately three years, and are attracted by the odor and vocalization of females during the reproductive period.

The gestation time of the jaguar - guinea fowl varies from 93 to 105 days and can be born from one to four pups per litter. On average, newborn puppies weigh from 700 to 900 g, open their eyes from the second week onwards, breastfeed until the sixth month of life and accompany the mother until a year and a half of age.

Curiosities

Discover facts about jaguars:

• Weight: a jaguar - guinea fowl can weigh between 55 kg and 135 kg, depending on the animal's habitat. In Brazil, jaguars from the Pantanal are bigger and heavier than those from the Amazon, for example;
• Height: the jaguar - painted has a height ranging from 68 cm to 76 cm;
• Length: Male jaguars are larger than females. They have a length of 1.4 to 1.8 meters, while that of females varies from 1.2 to 1.7 meters;
• Life expectancy: a jaguar - guinea fowl lives from 12 to 15 years in the wild.

The occurrence of black individuals is another interesting curiosity of jaguars. Also called black jaguar, this type of jaguar shows a variation in melanin caused by dominant genes. Therefore, they have a greater amount of melanin in the body compared to others. Although not very evident, jaguars also have spots and rosettes all over their bodies.

Unlike black jaguars, black panthers or black leopards do not have spots and rosettes all over their bodies.

Threats and conservation

Habitat destruction and predatory hunting are the main causes of the severe reduction in the jaguar population. They are classified by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and by IBAMA as a vulnerable species and are part of Appendix I of CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which lists endangered species. extinction, whose trade will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances.

It is estimated that fires in the Amazon since the beginning of 2019 have killed, injured or displaced between 400 and 1500 jaguars. Currently, the Amazon concentrates around ⅔ of the world's jaguar population. The recent directions of environmental policy in Brazil indicate a dangerous scenario for its biodiversity.

The current scenario worries specialists from the Onça-Pintada Alliance, a collaborative network of institutions created in 2014 to expand research and conservation actions for the species in the Brazilian Amazon.

jaguar institute

The Jaguar Institute (IOP) is a Brazilian non-governmental organization created by two biologists in 2002. Its mission is to promote the conservation of jaguars through management applications in captivity and in the wild, in addition to conducting scientific research in the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pantanal and Atlantic Forest biomes.

The works are directly related to the jaguar and its prey and address the most diverse aspects, including: long-term monitoring programs for jaguar populations and their natural prey in the wild, management programs to resolve conflicts between this predator and ranchers, ecology, epidemiology, modeling, genetics, formulation and development of public policies, payments for environmental services, environmental education, as well as cultural, educational and social projects whose actions contribute to the conservation of the jaguar and biodiversity as a whole.