Jaguar: Description Of The Appearance Of A Wild Cat, Character, Habitat And Lifestyle, Photo

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Who is jaguar

Each member of the feline family embodies strength and grace. Even a mongrel domestic cat is admired for its agility and agility. What then can we say about wild cats, for example, such as the jaguar.

Content

• 1 Who is a jaguar

• 2 Description of the animal

  • 2.1 External features of the jaguar
  • 2.2 The nature of the predator
  • 2.3 Habitat
  • 2.4 Nutrition

  • 2.5 Reproduction

    2.5.1 Video: Living in the Wild

• 3 Jaguar life in captivity

  3.1 Video: the first white jaguars were born in captivity

Who is jaguar

The scientific name for the jaguar is Panthera onca. Indeed, this feline predator belongs to one of the representatives of the panther genus. It is important that among large cats, the jaguar ranks third in size.

Scientists believe that the first ancestors of jaguars lived about 6-10 million years ago. The very same species "Panthera onca" has a history of 3.8 million years. The oldest remains of these predators date back to the late Pliocene period (that is, about 2 million years ago). The jaguar has a lot in common with leopards (it even has one common ancestor - the clouded leopard). However, these are two completely different types of animals.

The beautiful color of the skin made the jaguars an excellent target for hunters. Therefore, at the moment the number of the population is very small: the animals are practically exterminated. For example, only in Argentina there are about 200 individuals, in Mexico - no more than a hundred. That is, the total number of jaguars in the wild today does not exceed a thousand cats.

A beautiful spotted hide was considered a valuable trophy, so people in the 20th century called the life of an entire population into question

The jaguar is listed in the international Red Book, in almost all countries it is a protected species of wild animals. Shooting jaguars in small numbers is officially allowed only in Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil.

Description of the animal

The name "jaguar" was given to the predator due to its agility, speed and ability to hunt. The word "jaguar" is translated from the Indian language as "one who kills with one jump."

External features of the jaguar

In appearance, a jaguar is primarily a cat. Therefore, it has a body typical of all representatives of the cat family and a long tail. Due to the length of the tail (usually at least 50 centimeters), the predator has excellent aerodynamic characteristics during the chase.

The body is approximately 110-185 centimeters long. Females are slightly smaller than males. Depending on the habitat and the abundance of food, the weight of an adult jaguar can range from 36 to 113 kilograms, the average weight of a predator is 70 kilograms. The jaguar has very sharp canines - as a rule, the canines are up to 5 centimeters long. It should also be noted the number of toes characteristic of all felines: on the front there are 5 of them, on the back - 4.

The height of the jaguar at the withers is usually 63–76 centimeters. These are large and muscular representatives of the feline family, which have an extremely attractive skin color for poachers. So, the color can be very diverse: from bright red tones to the color of sand. Color depends on the place of residence of the predator. At the same time, there are dark spots all over the skin. The jaguar's lower abdomen and soles are white.

Typical signs of jaguars are:

• small rounded ears;
• shortened paws;
• long body;
• strong long tail that helps the animal to hunt.

Bright red skin with black spots - standard color for jaguars

Black color is rare in jaguars, but it is the result of melanism, not a mutation

The nature of the predator

Jaguars are solitary predators. They gather in groups only during the mating season. At the same time, predators very rarely fight for the attention of the female, since in these animals it is the female who chooses a partner for herself.

By their nature, jaguars are "couch potatoes", that is, they do not wander from place to place in search of the best. Usually, each predator has its own territory for life and hunting - for females about 25 square kilometers, for males up to 50. Territorially, the areas have the shape of a triangle. At the same time, it is important that the “owner” can easily let other jaguars into their hunting grounds, but we are extremely intolerant of other felines.

There is documentary evidence of the aggressiveness of the jaguar: the spotted predator kills larger animals that accidentally entered its territory - pumas and black copper beetles. In any extreme situation, the jaguar will attack.

Serious fangs and powerful jaws are a cat's dangerous weapon

The predator goes hunting at dusk or at night. During the day, the animal rests in the shade of trees or a cave.

Habitat

The jaguar is one of the predatory animals of the New World fauna. Its habitat is the countries of Central and South America. However, due to the brutal hunting, these animals were completely exterminated in El Salvador and Uruguay.

The modern range of the jaguar can be traced from Central America to the northern part of Argentina. I must say that the largest predators live in Brazil in the state of Mato Grosso. At the moment, the range of the jaguar has been reduced by a third from the original.

The cat is great at climbing trees

Predators prefer to live in tropical rainforests and grasslands. Cats are not afraid of water, willingly settle in swamps. If a jaguar wanders into the mountains, then no higher than two kilometers above sea level: cats do not like to live at an altitude. Temperatures suitable for life are 25-30 degrees Celsius, but not higher: in the heat, cats become less active and sleepy.

Today, scientists distinguish several subspecies of jaguars, while at least one subspecies has already been completely exterminated by hunters (we are talking about the Texas jaguar):

• Panthera onca onca (Amazonian jaguar) lives in the rain forests of the Amazon;
• Panthera onca peruvianus (Peruvian jaguar) - in Peru and Ecuador, often included in the Amazonian subspecies;
• Panthera onca hernandesii (Mexican jaguar) - in Mexico.

It often includes the following 6 subspecies:

• Panthera onca arizonensis (Arizona jaguar) - from southern Arizona to Sonora in Mexico;
• Panthera onca centralis (Central American jaguar) - in Central America;
• Panthera onca goldmani (Goldman's jaguar) - in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala;
• Panthera onca veracrucis (Texas jaguar) - in central Texas (exterminated);
• Panthera onca palustris (Brazilian jaguar) - in southern Brazil;
• Panthera onca paraguensis (Paraguayan jaguar) - In Paraguay, it is often included in the Brazilian subspecies.

Subspecies differ in size and color specifics. For example, the largest cats with bright orange skins live in the Brazilian jungle, while the smaller sand-colored jaguars prefer to settle further north.

Colors highlight the modern and original habitats of jaguars

Food

Jaguars are among the top predators. This means that in the wild, they have no natural enemies other than humans. The main diet of the jaguar is meat from large and medium-sized animals. Scientists have calculated that the menu of a predator in everyday life can be replenished with meat from 87 species of animals, birds and fish.

Most often, the predator preys on small crocodiles and wild pigs. Less often, they can catch and kill deer, anteaters, tapirs and even snakes. As a resident of the dense jungle, the jaguar does not disdain to hunt monkeys, rodents and foxes.

Powerful jaws and sharp fangs allow the predator to deal with even such "difficult" prey as turtles and armadillos.

Jaguars hunt alone, preferring to ambush trees or grass. It is surprising that a predator rarely rushes in pursuit of its prey, if it noticed it in time.

Jaguars have their own dietary "rules":

• swallow prey from the head;
• if the victim is very large, then eating is carried out in two steps with an interval of 12 hours;
• does not feed on fallen animals.

The jaguar swims well, so even small crocodiles - caimans are included in its diet

Reproduction

Jaguars do not have a mating season as such. Therefore, the "wedding" is played when the female signals that she is ready to mate. The first time this usually occurs in the third year of life. In these predators, it is the female who chooses a male for herself and temporarily settles on his territory. Once mating is complete, the female returns to her area.

Small jaguars are born of a dark color, only with age a spotted appearance of the skin appears

A jaguar's pregnancy lasts a hundred days. Usually the nest is set up in dense thickets or in a cave. There are from two to four cubs in the litter, which spend about one and a half months in their shelter. After the cubs grow up, the female teaches them to hunt. Young jaguars live with their mother until they learn all the intricacies of hunting and find their territory.

Video: life in the wild

Jaguar life in captivity

The jaguar is very fond of freedom and independence, so it is difficult to get used to captivity. These animals are very rarely found in the zoo or in home breeding.

Animals do not tolerate restrictions on their freedom, which is why they are so rare in zoos.

In captivity, jaguars live up to 25 years. To make the animal as comfortable as possible, you will need to create all the conditions for it:

• spacious aviary;
• climbing trees or woodwork and claw points;
• the presence of play elements in the aviary;
• proper nutrition (up to 3.5 kilograms of raw lean meat and 0.5 liters of water per day);
• vitamin balance (young animals are given vitamins A and D3, adult cats - a complex vitamin preparation, yeast and bone meal).

It should be noted that in captivity, jaguars do not need to hunt, so excess energy will need to be splashed out through games. Only an active lifestyle and eating quality meat can prolong the life of a predator and prevent the occurrence of various diseases.

Video: the first white jaguars were born in captivity

Thus, jaguars are top predators, some of the largest cats on the planet. Due to the bright spotted color, the animals were the main target of hunters, therefore the status of their population belongs to endangered ones. Today, jaguars are protected as a rare species.