The jaguar is an opportunistic predator, and they have, in essence, three ways to hunt. They are capable of killing a wide range of prey animals as you might expect. They might eat a turtle egg or a 2-pound armadillo … continue reading…
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…
The question is a bit ambiguous but I believe it can be rephrased as follows: “Which species of cat has the longest lifespan on average?”. I have to include the word “average” because there will always be individual cats who … 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…
Here is a potted history of the big cats by a student of the wild cats – me. It is not meant to be overly heavy 😉. The big cats are grouped together because they can all roar. The puma … 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 how you pronounce Panthera onca. It looks easy! But a major website which has the sole purpose of informing you how to pronounce words totally screws up 😕 . That site is: synonyms.com. Sorry guys but your work … 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 term “black panther” normally refers to a black leopard or jaguar and it can also refer to a black mountain lion (puma). So, you can see that the ‘black panther cat’ is actually three different species of wild cat. … 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…
