Jaguar! Not Cars

                   IS THE JAGUAR ARE GOING TO EXTINCT?

Scientific Name: Panthera onca

Mass: 56 – 96 kg (Adult)

Conservation Status: Near Threatened (Population decreasing) 

Lifespan: 12 – 15 years (In the wild)

Height: 63 – 76 cm (Adult, At Shoulder)

Did you know: Unlike many other cats, jaguars do not avoid water; in fact, they are quite good swimmers.

 

 

The Jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the  Panthera Genus, and is the only extanct Panthera species native to the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Americas. The jaguar's present range extends from Southwestern United States and Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northernArgentina. Though there are single cats now living within the western United States, the species has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 20th century.

This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioral and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrains. Its preferred habitats are usually swamps and wooded regions, but jaguars also live in scrublands and deserts. The jaguar is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain (an apex predator). It is a keystone species , playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of the animals it hunts. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. This allows it to pierce the shells of armored reptiles and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.

 

The jaguar is a near-threatend species and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still frequently killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large. Given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American culture, including those of the Maya and Aztec.

                                        Range of Jaguar

 

Population:

At best, only an estimated 15,000 jaguars remain in the wild. Bi-national conservation efforts have been successful at protecting a small population of 80 to 120 cats in the remote mountains of Sonora, Mexico bordering Arizona.  This population is the largest of three known to remain in Sonora, and is the last hope for recovery in the United States.

 

                       RESPECT THE NATURE

                        ENJOY THE NATURE..