What are some interesting facts about jaguars?
Did you know that the jaguar is the third-largest cat species in the world after the tiger and the lion? Read on to know fascinating facts about the big cat species.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
*A jaguar has an attractive, tawny coat with black rosettes. The jaguar rosettes have a spot in the middle and they are irregularly shaped.
* A jaguar is stockier and more heavily muscled, with a larger head and wider shoulders.
*It has the shortest tail among the big cats from 45 to 75 cm in length.
*From tip to tail, it measures 1.5 m to 2.5 m and weighs between 68 and 136 kg.
*The legs are short, but thick and powerful with broad paws.
Found in the Amazon basin
The only big cat species in the New World, jaguars are today found mostly in the Amazon basin of South and Central America and southern Mexico, though they once ranged as far north as southern USA. They are the third-largest cat species in the world after the tiger and the lion.
To the indigenous Americans, particularly the Maya, the Aztec and the Olmec, the jaguar was a god of both night and light, and was revered and feared in equal measure for his strength, fertility, agility and beauty. The native chiefs sat on jaguar thrones and wore jaguar pelts. A Mayan tribe named itself Jaguar’s Paw.
Jaguars vs. leopards
Like leopards, which belong to the Old World and whom they most resemble, jaguars have an attractive tawny or orange coat with black rosettes. However, jaguar rosettes have a spot in the middle and they are irregularly shaped. Leopard rosettes are complete and the spots are absent.
Though both live in similar habitats and have similar habits, the physical resemblance ends there. A jaguar is stockier and more heavily muscled, with a larger head and wider shoulders. It has the shortest tail among the big cats from 45 to 75 cm in length. From tip to tail, it measures 1.5 m to 2.5 m and weighs between 68 and 136 kilos. The legs are short, but thick and powerful with broad paws.
Lethal bite
Jaguars are most at home in the tropical rainforest, though they are adaptable to grasslands, woodlands and even deserts. Their build and coloration are ideal for stalking prey stealthily on the ground or ambushing them from the top of trees, and for swimming. The jaguar is the only big cat that grasps the prey's head in its powerful jaws and kills with a lethal bite by piercing the prey's skull with its sharp teeth, rather than by breaking its neck. It is very comfortable eating the spectacled caiman (a kind of small alligator) and hard-shelled turtles and tortoises. It also devours capybaras, the world's biggest rodents. It goes fishing too, slapping the water with its tail, and spearing the fish thus lured with its sharp claws!
Solitary and nocturnal
These elusive cats are nocturnal, solitary and extremely territorial, coming together only to mate. A male jaguar’s roar is more like a loud bark that ends in a deep growl. The female makes a coughing sound.
The female raises her one to four cubs alone, and is so protective she will bristle with rage even if the father approaches! The cubs stay with the mother till they are two years old.
Picture Credit : Google