There are two very sad facts to report in answering the question in the title. Firstly, there are websites and videos which greatly misrepresent the world population size of the jaguar. For example, there’s a video on YouTube which says … continue reading…
We are told that, in the wild, jaguars live between 12-15 years. Although Mel and Fiona Sunquist in their excellent book Wild Cats of the World (2002) state that jaguar “longevity in the wild is unknown”. On my reading about … continue reading…
Jaguar cubs are cute and beautiful but you don’t expect to see a picture of one in the wild, do you? The jaguar is pretty rare and elusive with an approximate world population of about 8,000 (2022 but see below) … continue reading…
Where do Jaguars live? is a question quite a lot of people ask and the answer is a little surprising because we are used to the big wild cats living in Africa (leopard, lion, cheetah) and Asia (tiger, leopard). Jaguar … continue reading…
The jaguarete is better spelled with an accent acute over the last ‘e’ like this: jaguareté. This means it should be pronounced: jaguareteh as in saying ‘eh you’ or ‘Eh? What’s this?’. I don’t believe that it should be capitalised … continue reading…
Jaguars can be seen in a range of tropical and subtropical habitats. They can live at sea level to about 1,200 m above sea level. There are records of jaguars living at 3,800 m above sea level in Costa Rica … continue reading…
This is a great picture from a short video made by The Big Cat Sanctuary showing Neron, a male, melanistic jaguar. The spots are called rosettes and they are nicely visible. It shows that black jaguars, a.k.a. “black panthers” are … continue reading…
Jaguars communicate primarily through the sounds that they make (vocalisations) and in addition through: urine spraying, scrapes i.e. claw marks on the ground and objects, and depositing their faeces in prominent locations. They use these communications to indicate their occupancy … continue reading…
The jaguar seems to prefer peccaries (javelina or skunk pig) although their diet reflects the abundance of whatever prey animal is available. There have been a number of studies which indicate that jaguars “have a particular fondness for peccaries” (the … continue reading…
Are jaguars dangerous? Yes (obvious). Are jaguars endangered? Yes (IUCN Red List classification: Near Threatened which in layperson’s terms means endangered). Are jaguars and panthers the same? They can be because the word “panthers” is used sometimes to describe black … continue reading…
Google tells me that people want to know how many Jaguars (the cat!) there are in Costa Rica. It is actually a very difficult question because I don’t think anybody is courageous enough or silly enough to actually provide a … continue reading…
NEWS AND VIEWS: You might have thought that I was discussing a genetically mutated jaguar in Belize and Guatemala which has a short tail very similar to that of the bobcat but I’m not. This beautiful jaguar had, at one … continue reading…
News.com.au is probably taking the piss but they might be genuine but mistaken. They have a story about a university student capturing on video a large, black domestic cat (in my considered view) which has been described as a “black … continue reading…
No, jaguars do not kill gorillas in the wild because there are no gorillas for the jaguar to kill in the places where it lives. Gorillas are only found in Central Africa including Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic Of … continue reading…
Yes, if sloths are available, jaguars will feed on them. The jaguar’s diet reflects the relative abundance of prey species in the area in which they live, which naturally varies from area to area. Jaguars are opportunistic predators. They are … continue reading…
