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The jaguar ( Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. With a body length of up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb), it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world.
- What Is The Jaguar?
- Diet and Behavior
- Range and Habitat
- Threats to Survival
- Conservation
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Jaguars are the only big cat in the Americas and the third biggest in the world after tigers and lions. They look a lot like leopards, which live in Africa and Asia, but jaguars’ spots are more complex and often have a dotin the center. These powerful cats were worshipped as gods in many ancient South American cultures, and representations of the j...
Unlike many other cats, jaguars do not avoid water. In fact, they are quite good swimmers. They hunt fish, turtles, and even caimans, using their incredibly powerful jaws to pierce the animals’ skulls. Jaguars also eat deer, peccaries, capybaras, tapirs, and a number of other land animals, which they prefer to ambush at night. Jaguars live alone, a...
Jaguars once roamed broadly from central Argentina all the way up to the southwestern United States. Since the 1880s, they’ve lost more than half their territory. Their main stronghold today is the Amazon Basin, though they still exist in smaller numbers through Central America as well. They’re typically found in tropical rainforests but also live ...
Jaguars face a number of threats, including habitat fragmentation and illegal killing. South and Central America’s high rates of deforestation—for grazing land, agriculture, and other uses—have not only destroyed jaguars’ habitat but also broken it up. Fragmented forests mean that cats get boxed into patches of forest and can’t travel far to find n...
Jaguars are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The species has national protections in almost every country it’s found, and trade in its parts is banned by CITES, a global treaty that regulates the cross-border wildlife trade. Still, poaching and the illegal trade continues so strengthening law ...
Learn about the jaguar, the largest cat in the Americas, and its habitat, diet, behavior, and threats. See stunning photos of jaguars in the wild and in captivity, and find out how you can help protect this endangered species.
Learn about the jaguar, the largest of South America's big cats and the third largest cat in the world. Find out how jaguars hunt, swim, climb trees, and live in the wild.
May 23, 2024 · Learn about the jaguar, the largest cat in the Americas, and its characteristics, behaviour, and conservation status. Find out how the jaguar differs from the leopard and other big cats, and what it eats and where it lives.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- They have a mighty name. The word 'jaguar' comes from the indigenous word 'yaguar', which means 'he who kills with one leap'. You’ll find out why later...
- Their territory is shrinking. Jaguars used to be found from the south-west USA, throughout South America to the central-southern part of Argentina. Now, they’ve been virtually eliminated from half of their historic range.
- They’re on the chunky side. The jaguar is the third biggest cat in the world - after the tiger and the lion - and is the largest cat in the Americas. They can grow up to 170cm long, not including their impressive tails which can be up to 80cm.
- They’ve got spotty spots. To the untrained eye, jaguars can be mistaken for leopards as they look similar, but you can tell the difference from their rosettes (circular markings): Jaguars have black dots in the middle of some of their rosettes, whereas leopards don’t.
The Jaguar (Panthera onca), is a New World mammal of the ‘Felidae family’. It is one of four ‘big cats’ in the ‘Panthera’ genus, along with the tiger, lion and leopard of the Old World. The jaguar is the third largest feline after the tiger and the lion.
Deer, peccaries, tapirs, iguanas, capybaras, armadillos, and monkeys are among the many kinds of animals that fall prey to jaguars. The powerful bite of jaguars makes them excellent hunters; their teeth possess the strength to pierce through crocodile hides and turtle shells.
