Felines are really interesting species, dangerous for other species, very elegant if seen from an aesthetic perspective and quite agile thanks to their developed senses and characteristic strength, this time we will talk about the characteristics, feeding, behavior and habitat of what they is known as The jaguar.
The jaguar
The feline with light or pale yellow fur and very dark black spots known as the jaguar has been given several names in addition to its scientific designation panthera Onca, jaguars belong to the phylum chordate, class mammalia, order carnivorous, family felidae, subfamily Pantherinae.
It is called in various ways, jaguar, yaguareté, the common “jaguar”, “tigre” “American tiger”, otorongo, balam, uturunku, unqa, nawel, painted onca (in Brazil) and even members of some tribes in Mexico call it ocelot or tlatlauhquiocelotl. However, for Spanish speakers the names jaguar and tiger are the most common to refer to this feline that of the kingdoms of living beings belongs to the great kingdom Animalia.
Yaguareté is not very common to hear but it comes from a Guarani language (spoken in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay) that translates to "true beast" and from there comes the "jaguar" because the "j" is pronounced like the "y". » in that language. It did not take long for the use of "j" instead of "y" to name this animal to be accepted in Spanish.
Something curious is that dogs are currently called "yagua" because that is what various carnivores were called in the past, including combat dogs that came to America along with the Spanish and Europeans, the jaguar would be the most powerful and most feared beast by the speakers of this language, so the "ete" was added to "jaguar" because it means "true".
Now, knowing that there are panthers as they are commonly known and that they make a reference to the well-known Black Panther, It may seem strange to put jaguars within the same subfamily, what happens here is that the black panther is a jaguar that has melanism, this condition makes its spots make them appear to be all black but they still have spots, there are even white panthers due to this condition.
The truth is that biological taxonomy relates species by their kinship and by their evolutionary history, which allows us to see several species within the family pantherinae, such as:
- the cloudy panther
- The clouded panther of Borneo
- the panther tigris or tiger
- The snow leopard
- the lion panther
- The panther onca or jaguar
- And the panther pardus or leopard
Felines that are very similar and that have in their names a first component that allows them to be classified as panthers ("Panthera«) and then another component that differentiates them as a species, in this case it would be «Jaguar» which comes from a Portuguese term used to refer to the ounce or the leopard, specifically the snow leopard. In Latin America it is used for the ocelot as well. As for its relatives, the Leopard would be the closest relative of the jaguar, however, studies are still ongoing.
Subspecies
Previously, the higher levels of classification to which this animal belongs were shown, the phylum chordate includes animals that have a dorsal chord, gill slits, and a tail (more diverse species than first imagined), the class mammalian It encompasses all those vertebrates that have mammary glands that function to give breast milk to their young (lions, dogs, cats, bears, deer, squirrels, rhinos, horses, some marine species, etc).
The order carnivorous groups them by the type of food they eat, meat is the main food of these animals (bears, hyenas, dogs, tigers, leopards, wolves, killer whales, among others.). While the family felidae together with the jaguar, the tiger, the lion, the leopard, the lynx, the cats, the puma, among others. When speaking of subspecies, animals that share many more characteristics than those that are related to belong to a class, order or family are grouped together.
In this way there are ten subspecies of panthera onca:
- Panthera onca arizonensis: located in Arizona – Mexico
- Panthera onca centralis: Found in Panama and Colombia
- Panthera onca goldmani: It can be frequently seen in Belize, Guatemala and the Yucatan Peninsula
- Panthera onca hernandesii: It inhabits central and western Mexico.
- Panthera onca onca: It lives in the Amazon
- Panthera onca paraguensis: As its name indicates, this jaguar lives in Paraguay and also in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.
- Peruvian Panthera onca: The Peruvian Panthera onca is found in Ecuador and Peru
- Panthera onca veracruscis: this latter subspecies is found in Texas
- Panthera onca augusta: That is already extinct but was found in everything known as Patagonia and in the United States.
- Panthera onca mesembrina: Like the previous subspecies, this one is extinct and lived in the same locations.
The debate that occurs about the acceptance of these species still continues, there are several differences between them that allow them to be differentiated, although it seems that they are simply divided by the habitat in which they are found. The truth is that many books specify the physical or behavioral differences between them, while others do not support a subdivision of the species, instead everything would be based on adaptations of the same to the geographical space or habitat in which they develop.
Features
It is possible to find several specimens of various sizes, not only depending on age but also on other factors that influence their development and allow us to see jaguars weighing 56 kilograms or forty kilos more at the same age, even male specimens weighing 160 have been found. kg. Then a weight range can be made that would start as 36 kilos up to 100 or 160 kg.
As for how long they can be, they could measure between 162 and 183 centimeters without counting their tail, which can measure up to 75 centimeters. About how tall they are, up to the shoulders they can measure 67 or 76 centimeters, these measurements allow to make an image of the animal that is quite large, although there are species such as lions or tigers that exceed them.
Its head is large, robust and its jaw is so powerful that it allows its bite to be just as powerful, even more so than other species of the family to which it belongs, such as the lion or the tiger. Likewise, their members are not very long, they are short and thus they can have a lot of ability to climb and crawl or crouch, they are also skilled swimmers and that is why they do not flee from the water.
As for their eyes, they are between yellow and greenish yellow, they are fascinating in many species, which is why they are the focus of many photographers. They are animals that have harmony in their body, their eyes are a bit small and mostly they have a rounded shape.
Their fur can be light brown or pale yellow, they can even have reddish tones, covered with their characteristic black spots (and white on the belly) that also function as a form of camouflage in the jungle. Just as fingerprints function as a distinguishing factor between one human being and another, jaguars have a unique pattern of spots that completely facilitates the identification of each specimen.
Not only is their head robust, their whole body is really robust, they have the strength to drag up to 360 kilos of a prey large enough to reach that weight, this for a distance of more than 90 meters, meanwhile their bones can pierce very deep bones. hard shells and turtle shells, depending on their habitat and the type of prey they frequently ingest they can be more or less robust, large and strong.
Behavior
Jaguars have an activity that mostly occurs during the day: at dawn, so it is commonly considered a nocturnal species. These can hunt during the day, if there are prey on long distances that are available to them, females usually travel much shorter distances than males.
Even so, both have a fairly powerful sense of smell that allows them to perceive the smell of a prey even though it is very far from where the jaguar is observing, their sense of sight is also quite developed, they have binocular vision and darkness is not a limitation. for them. These two senses are really quite developed.
It is a solitary, elusive animal and usually establishes a large territory and defends it, the females cover between 25 and 40 square kilometers while the males defend about 50 or up to 80 square kilometers. They are not very sociable really, they can get together when they will court and go to mate, but otherwise they keep to themselves. They repel human presence when they are born in freedom, which has considerably complicated the study of them previously.
There are often fights between males when one wants to mate with a female and another male also wants to mate with her, however they avoid doing so because the fights between them can be very violent, when they do occur they are usually territorial conflicts.
The roar of the jaguars can be quite loud and is used as a warning in those conflicts over territory or by the females when they are going to court them, just as many felines can hear a jaguar meowing. In addition to that, they are not really aggressive, they do not usually attack humans unless they are scared, very old or injured.
Reproduction
When the specimens to be compared are in this process they expand much more the territory in which they are found, this lasts until after intercourse and while the females are in their gestation period, little by little they reduce their territory again for protection of the young, although they can travel long distances with them in search of prey to feed on.
Regarding sexual maturity, females reach it when they are 12 or up to 24 months old, while males mature much later (twice as long), they are mature when they reach 24 months or until they reach 36, these are the ranges in which most of the specimens of this species reach sexual maturity.
As for the period of fertility or heat, it is possible that jaguars mate normally during the year without being affected by a season, although when it is in a rainy season this happens much more frequently. The females are in heat for 6 or 17 days in periods of 37 days, this can be observed when they vocalize more frequently, at this time they are closer to the males and when their young are born they move away completely.
The latter occurs because in this species cannibalism of puppies can also be seen, as occurs with Tiger or with other marine species such as white sharks, unlike the latter it is not the mothers who can eat their young but the fathers. In spite of that, the females, after their gestation period comes to an end (it lasts between 93 and 105 days), can have from 1 to 4 offspring and their aggressiveness increases due to the protection they have with them.
It is a completely necessary behavior since the jaguar cubs are born without sight and completely dependent on their parents, after two or even three weeks they begin to see and are a little less defenseless. The mothers remove the teat when they are three months old, however they keep them in the same place where they were born (their burrow) for five or six months. After that they are ready to go for a walk and hunt with them.
Jaguar cubs can be with their mothers for one or two years completely attached to them, after that they seek to establish their own territory as males are nomads and tend to stay close to older jaguars before finding a space for themselves .
State of conservation
Jaguars have a life expectancy that ranges from 12 to 15 years in the wild or in the wild, those in captivity cared for by rangers, zoo personnel, etc. they can live more than 20 years, in fact, a female was recorded that reached 32 years before dying.
The main conservation problems of the jaguar have their origin in human activities that generate an enormous direct and indirect impact on their populations, among their main threats are the deforestation of their habitat, a growing increase in competition for food with humans , poaching and clashes with ranchers who often kill them in areas where they hunt cattle.
In this sense, protected natural areas are essential for their conservation, however, few protected areas have adequate surface area to maintain a viable population of jaguars in the long term, so it is essential to have corridors or other forms of management of the adjacent landscape.
Therefore, efforts to protect the jaguar require the consolidation of existing protected natural areas, the creation of new reserves and the conservation of this feline in large unprotected areas where it is still found to represent one of the the critical and most important factors within the schemes of its conservation.
What are the dangers that the jaguar has in reference to humans?
Firstly, it would be the destruction of their habitat; second, fragmentation; third, it would be the cattle conflict and a fourth threat would be the introduction of exotic species, this in relation to the transmission of diseases that they can transmit to the jaguar. Many people who work in environmental education are hoping that just by transmitting information there will be a change in attitude and that is clearly not being achieved.
Unfortunately, if this path is followed, this species will soon be wiped out simply by destroying their habitats. Emphasis is placed on the human, it is because the adults are the ones who now have the rifles, handle the machines to cut down mountains, etc. So betting on the future and knowledge to avoid all this is the best thing to do before it is too late for the jaguar and perhaps for many of the world's forests.
Food
Regarding the diet they have, as they belong to the carnivorous order, they completely prefer meat to other types of food and live prey, unlike vultures. Their way of hunting is mainly focused on stalking or ambushing their prey until they find the perfect moment to bite them in the neck or between the temporal bones of their skull and ears, this so that the bite suffocates them with their own blood or do not allow them to breathe because of the force used.
This is usually done with mammals, some species like dogs are clawed with such force as to kill them on the spot or at least seriously injure them in the head, while with reptiles they prefer to jump on them and keep them immobile while they hit them. they eat in bites
They are not fond of chases, so they tend to stalk prey stealthily or ambush it before attacking with a surprise jump when they notice they are in a blind spot in the prey's vision.
Jaguars can eat many species of animals, such as:
- anaconda
- pets including
- armadillos
- big birds
- Alligators
- Capybaras
- Deer
- cattle calves
- Porcupines
- tapirs
- Turtles
- Others types of frogs
When they have already captured them, they tend to eat the neck and chest first, then continue with the heart, the lungs. They can eat from 1,5 kilos to 34 kilos of meat daily, specimens weighing less than 70 kilos can eat a minimum of 2 kilos daily. However, when they are in a state of freedom, it is normal to see that one day they eat up to 30 kilos of prey and spend other days without eating because of the energy they spent during their hunt.
Habitat
The jaguar or yaguareté is capable of inhabiting different ecosystems including mangroves, temperate pine forests, deserts and even mountainous areas, but they prefer tropical lowland forests and subtropical forests located less than 1000 meters high. Jaguars once roamed widely from central Argentina to the southwestern United States.
In the 19th century, for example, this species could be observed in the southern United States and also in southern Argentina, knowing that there are extensive territories with rivers such as the Negro River (which is found in Argentina flowing from the confluence of the Rio Limay with the Neuquén River until reaching the Atlantic Ocean).
Something that served to determine the type of habitat that these felines prefer is the discovery that there were no specimens in the upper part of the mountains, where it is generally cold, this type of area with low temperatures does not seem to please them.
The humid forests, on the other hand, are habitats in which they are frequently observed, as well as in places with large bodies of water and land (which are seasonally flooded) and contrary to that the dry prairies are also liked, however, the dense forest seems to be your favourite. However, it can be distributed in other areas such as those mentioned above, including tropical forests (they do not like mountain ones) where they can live their day-to-day lives near rivers or swamps.
Each specimen occupies a territory that ranges between 5 and 500 square kilometers depending on the availability of the prey within its reach. Their main stronghold today is the Amazon Basin, although smaller numbers still exist throughout Central America. Unlike many other felines, jaguars do not avoid water, in fact, they are very good swimmers and are considered an opportunistic carnivore and their diet depends on the intensity and availability of prey.
This jaguar is a feline carnivore of the panterine subfamily and of the pantera genus, it is the only one of the four current species of this genus that is found in the American continent, it is also the largest feline in America and the third in the world, after of the tiger and the lion. Its current distribution extends from the extreme south of the United States, continuing through much of Central and South America to the north and northeast of Argentina.
It is possible that jaguars have different sizes depending on where they are found, for example, it has been observed that some specimens that live in the south of America are larger, while those that live in the north are a little smaller and weigh less, some in Brazilian regions they weigh between 100 and 135 kg.
This is influenced by the type of prey found in those habitats and the type of terrain, for example, in Brazil they can hunt larger herbivorous animals than they can find in the United States, for example. Similarly, jaguars that live in forests have darker fur than those that live in open areas, this can also occur due to the type and amount of herbivorous prey they get in forest areas.
However, the fight is not only with other specimens of the same species, jaguars are distributed throughout almost the entire world in an escape from the human species so as not to be part of the list of Animals extinct because of man, Knowing that human beings modify entire biomes by their activity, it is to be expected that the extinction of the fauna of these spaces is one of the many consequences of their arrival. This is why jaguars can be seen in:
- Argentina
- Bolivia (in Madidi National Park)
- Brazil (in all that would be the Amazon region and the Xingu indigenous park)
- United States (to the southwest, in Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona north of the Grand Canyon and in Cochise County)
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Belize (bordered to the north by Mexico and to the south by Guatemala)
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- French Guiana
- Paraguay
- Ecuador
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Peru (in the Manú National Park)
- Venezuela (in Canaima National Park and Parima-Tapirapeco National Park)
It is estimated that in Mexico There are approximately 4000 jaguar specimens that face threats such as the loss and fragmentation of their environment, increasing encounters with urban areas, as well as hunting, which is generally justified as a consequence of the depredation of livestock by these felines.
In the country, the jaguar has lost 80 percent of its territory and is on the verge of extinction, therefore, several researchers from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico propose a series of strategies for the conservation of this species, among which are the identification of suitable areas for its proliferation.
The university experts explained that a team of researchers developed geospatial models that allow the identification of eight regions at the national level that meet the environmental characteristics for the development of the jaguar, among them, the western Sierra Madre, the Pacific coast, the highlands of Chiapas and the Yucatan peninsula.
Likewise, possible corridors were identified that connect each suitable habitat so that the jaguar has the opportunity to move, since this species requires at least 900 square kilometers to survive. It was emphasized that protected natural areas are not enough, since of the total number of jaguars identified in Mexican territory, only 16% are safe under a conservation policy.
Currently, studies are being carried out on how to have more certainty and certainty about the suitable habitat for the jaguar, also to know in what proportion the habitat is found, and if there is or what possibilities there are of connectivity between these suitable habitats, they are only 12% in territories of the Yucatan Peninsula. There are more jaguars in Quintana Roo, then Campeche and then Yucatán, but in other states of the republic there are also jaguars.
At present there could already be fewer than those 1.800 jaguars and every year that passes there are fewer jaguars and the time is perhaps approaching an extinction, which may be no less than ten years from now or perhaps less, for these prolonged dates if If you continue as you go, it is most likely that there will be no more jaguars in many parts of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Studying human behavior, what would most affect these jaguar habitats would be the construction of train stations that are planned for the future, crossing the habitats of these animals in different countries where they live. In addition to all the activities that would be generated around it and the human settlements, regular or irregular, that can be carried out, since this can fragment the habitat and perhaps in the very short term degrade the little habitat that remains for the jaguar.
In Argentina there are approximately less than 250 jaguars in the wild, this magnificent feline has been exterminated from almost the entire territory and currently survives only in other regions of the north of the country, one of them is the Misiones jungle. It is the environment with the greatest diversity of species in Argentina, but since the beginning of colonization, this green paradise has been strongly transformed.
The main threat to the jaguar in the Argentina Today is the hunt. We must find a solution to the biggest problem facing the jaguar species in this country. There is an association called ''red yaguareté'' in care of jaguars, it is a non-profit foundation and is made up almost entirely of volunteers, that is, ordinary people from civil society who have decided to take an active role in conservation of the species, in this group there are also scientists, technicians and expeditionaries, all with one goal, to save the jaguar.
