Jaguar Fun Facts

Jaguar Fun Facts

1. The name Jaguar has been borrowed from one of the pre-Colombian American languages and translates "killer that takes its prey in a single bound". 

2. They live in North and South America, and also in the rain forests in Central and South America, and Peru.  

3. The most Jaguars in the world live in the Amazon rain forests. Jaguars also like to live near grasslands, rivers and lakes, in small caves, marshes and under rock ledges; they live in shrubby areas as well.

4. To some, jaguars look very much like leopards but they are heavier and larger. Jaguars vary from 1.62 to 1.83 m in length, including a 0.76 m tail. They stand around 67 to 76 cm (tall at the shoulder and weigh between 56 and 96 kg.

5. Females are typically smaller than males and Jaguars in southern Peru, Mexico and Central America are typically smaller. 

6. The jaguar is the third largest feline in the world, after tigers and lions, and the largest feline in the Americas.

7. Jaguars will go after almost any prey ,with its favorite being the wild pig and the capybara (the worlds largest rodent). Other food items are caiman, tapirs, and fish. 

8. Jaguars are also more energetic than their larger cousins, and are active for more than half of the day. 

9. Jaguars seem to mate in any season.   Male and female jaguars live together only during the mating and pregnancy season. 110 days after mating, the female gives birth to one to four young cubs; they usually have 2 cubs. New born jaguars weigh between .7 and .9 kilograms. 

10. During the sixties and seventies, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for their beautiful coat.  

11. A jaguar’s sharp claws can scratch other animals. The claws go back in when he doesn’t need them to hunt.

12. The jaguar is the most iconic, and the largest, cat living today in the Americas. While they are still abundant in some areas, the jaguar’s future is threatened by illegal hunting, deforestation, and loss of wild prey.

`13. Jaguars are considered an apex predator and a keystone species. As a top predator and keystone species, jaguars play a crucial role in the ecosystem. Without the jaguar, herbivorous prey animals would decimate the plants of their ecosystem. Though few in numbers, jaguars prevent the ecosystem from collapsing.

14. There are 8 subspecies of jaguar, but other relatives include the tiger, lion, leopard and snow leopard.

15. Jaguars can mate with the other large cat species in the Panthera genus - lions, tigers and leopards. Such hybridizations will usually occur in captivity when the jaguar is unable to find a mate from its own species. A female jaguar can give birth to liguars, tiguars and lepjags by mating with a lion, tiger or leopard. A male jaguar can father jaglions and jaguleps by mating with a lion or leopard. We do not do of any instances where a male jaguar has produced offspring with a tiger. Dogla is the Indian name for a natural hybrid of a tiger and a leopard, but there is only anecdotal evidence to support the theory of successful leopard to tigress mating.

16. The jaguar cat has the most powerful jaw structure of any cat, and the second most powerful jaw structure of any land living carnivore species. If an adult jaguar kills an 800 pound bull, it is strong enough to drag it 25 feet using its powerful jaws and subsequently pulverize the bones of the bull. The bite of a jaguar is also strong enough to penetrate the shell of a turtle.