101 Facts About Jaguars

Jaguars are the biggest cats in the Americas
They are the third-largest cats in the world
Jaguars are the only members of the genus Panthera to live in North and South America
Their scientific name is Panthera onca
Jaguars can be found in North, Central and South America

The northern range of the Jaguars is Mexico
Jaguars are almost extinct in the northern part of its original range, surviving only in reduced numbers in remote areas of Central and South America.
Jaguars are larger and heavier than leopards
The male jaguar is normally larger than the female
Jaguars are powerful animals with heavy bodies, muscular limbs, and a large head with powerful jaws
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They are yellowish-brown with black ringed spots along the back and sides, and solid black spots on the legs, head and tail
One of the unique features of the jaguar is the shape of their spots
The spots of a jaguar resemble the shape of a rose. The spots are known as rosettes
The rosettes on the head, legs, and underside are solid black
Their lower portions of a jaguars body is white
A jaguar’s rosettes are larger than those of a leopard’s

Each jaguar’ jaguar’s coat has unique patterns, meaning that a jaguar can be individually identified by their markings
Jaguars can be identified by their yellow or orange coat, dark spots and short legs
Jaguars live in forests, grasslands, savanna, scrubland, and lowland forests that are close to rivers, streams and swamps
Jaguars are classed as carnivore’s, eating only meat
Jaguars are solitary animals
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Jaguars are considered an apex predator, with no natural predators in the wild
Jaguars are known to be loud, with their growl sounding like a deep cough.
Jaguars can stay alive in many different environments
Jaguars are normally found near water, preferring marsh or tropical rainforests
Females are 10 to 20% smaller than males
Jaguars are varied in size according to their geographical distribution. Jaguars in the north are typically larger than those in the south

A jaguar’s ideal method of killing large prey is to pierce the skull with its canine teeth.
Smaller prey can generally be killed with one swipe of a jaguars paw
The diet of a jaguar mostly consists of deer, tapirs, peccaries, sloth, monkeys, fish, reptiles and domestic livestock.
Jaguars are known to eat 80 different types of animals
Although jaguars eat meat, they have also been known to eat avocados
The jaguar is deadly when cornered, but does not normally attack humans
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The name of the jaguar is derived from the Native American word jaguars, which means “he who kills with one leap”
Jaguars sometimes climb trees to spring a trap, killing their prey with one powerful bite
Jaguars live alone, defining their territories of many square miles by marking their territory with urine or clawing trees
Jaguars dip their tails into the water to attract fish, much like a fishing line.
Jaguars are solitary animals, only spending time with others of their kind when they are mating, or taking care of cubs
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Jaguars take advantage of their strong jaws and sharp teeth during a hunt to easily catch prey
Jaguars catch their prey by the head and chomp down to make the kill
The jaws of a jaguar are stronger than any other species of cat
The pressure of a jaguar’s jaws can bite through bones
Jaguars are nocturnal, hunting at night
Jaguars do not like to share their food

Jaguars are extremely fast and can run up to 80 km per hour
Both male and females howl when they want to mate
Their mating season runs throughout the whole year
The duration of pregnancy is around 93 to 105 days
After mating, the female will carry her young for around 100 days, giving birth to 2 to 5 young
Baby jaguars are called cubs
Cubs are born with their eyelids sealed shut. The cubs are able to see for the first time after two weeks
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Jaguar cubs are born deaf and blind, slowly gaining sight and hearing over the first few weeks of life
The cubs, at the age of three months, are weaned from milk to meat
Cubs will generally stay in the den for the first three months
After six months, the cubs’ mother will teach them how to hunt.
After two years, the cubs will leave their mother to live and hunt on their own
The father will teach the cubs to defend themselves, and how to find their own food and shelter
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Jaguars typically live around 12 to 14 years in the wild
Jaguars are very good swimmers. Unlike most cats, they are not afraid or intimidated by water
Adult jaguars weigh between 45 and 113 kilograms.
A jaguar can be up to 240cm long from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail
Jaguars have large eyes, in balance with the head size
Jaguars usually have eyes of golden or reddish yellow

Jaguars cubs have blue eyes when they are born
Jaguars, although nocturnal, are also active during the daytime.
Male jaguars reach sexual maturity at the age of 3 to 4 years while female jaguars reach sexual maturity when they are 2 to 3 years old
Jaguars have adapted to prey on animals such as turtles, tortoises, and armadillos.
Adult males can reach an overall length of more than 7 feet and can weigh between from 175 to 200 pounds
Jaguars are skilled climbers and will scale trees with ease
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Jaguars are important in human culture, often playing a central role in stories and songs
Jaguars has a variety of vocalizations, including roars, grunts, snarls, growls, and a deep, hoarse cough
Jaguars like their homes to have very soft ground
Jaguars have a tail length between 45-75 cms (18-30 inches)
Jaguars have a shoulder height of between 55-76 cms (21.5-30 inches)
Jaguars are compact but very muscular
Jaguars have short, stocky limbs which help them to climb, swim, crouch and pounce
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They prefer to hunt their prey rather than chasing. They use a trap technique, jumping from cover onto its prey.
When jaguars meet each other, they make a noise like a nasally snuffling
Jaguars hunt both in the day and at night and usually travel up to 10 to 12 km a night when hunting
Jaguar’s tongues have sharp-pointed bumps, called papillae, which they use to scrape the meat off bones
A jaguar can sleep in trees
In some traditions, the Jaguar God of the Night was the frightening lord of the underworld.
Jaguars have the ability to see up to six times better than humans at night, due to a layer of tissue in the back of the eye that reflects light.

Jaguars can run quickly, but they do not have much stamina and will not engage in long chases
Jaguar tracks are round, with both the pad and the four toes that touch the ground
The jaguar‘s back limbs are longer than its front limbs to help them pounce and jump
Their front paws are equipped with long, retractile claws to help grab and hold its prey
They have loose belly skin which allows the animal to be kicked by its prey with little chance of injury
Humans are the main threat to the jaguar
Jaguars are hunted for sport, and for their spotted fur
The jaguar is rare, because of hunting of their fur. Farmers also kill jaguars when they kill their cattle
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Jaguar dragging dead yacare caiman through undergrowth

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for their spotted fur
The jaguar is a beautiful and graceful animal
The anaconda is the only natural enemy of jaguar
Besides intentional killing, the number of jaguars is decreasing because of environmental damage and threats to their habitat
It is believed that Panthera evolved between six and ten million years ago
The largest male weighed up to 158 kg (348 lb)
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A close up photograph of a Jaguar on the hunt.

Jaguars also come in a black form and are known as black panthers
Jaguars can roar, warning competitors away
Jaguars will run away when they smell a human
Jaguars have long been believed to be a sign of strength and power
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