29.11.2020 Animal Of The Week: Jaguar

Hello,

Today (29th November) is world Jaguar day so this week our animal is the Jaguar. The Jaguar is an animal I know pretty much nothing about so I am going to learn a lot too!

Jaguars (panthera onca) live for 12 - 15 years. Their heads and bodies are 150-180cm long and their tails are 70-90cm long! They weigh 45 - 110 kg.

Habitat

Jaguars live primarily in the Amazon Basin, though they can be found in smaller numbers in Central America. They once lived everywhere from central Argentina up to the southwestern United States but since the 1880s they have lost over half of their territory. They are mainly found in tropical rainforests but can live in savannas and grasslands.

Diet

They eat fish and turtles as they are actually quite competent swimmers as well as deer, iguanas, birds and monkeys; they will eat almost anything!

Are they endangered?

Jaguars are classed as near endangered and face several threats. South and Central America’s high rates of deforestation have not only destroyed jaguars’ habitat but also broken it up. This can mean that jaguars get trapped in patches of forest and can’t travel far to find new mates. This means they are unable to breed. Another threat to jaguars is killing from cattle farmers. As grazing land replaces forests, jaguars are more likely to hunt cattle. In response cattle owners sometimes kill jaguars. Poaching is another problem for jaguars, as well as many of the animals we have included in our animal of the week series. They are hunted for their teeth and bones.

Thank you for reading this post all about jaguars. I hope you liked it (perhaps except for the last photo...It truly reveals the horrors of poaching)!

You can adopt a jaguar from WWF here. They are in desperate need of funding to raise the population numbers. It could be a great Christmas present!

You could also simply donate to WWF to thank them for the incredible work they do and help them to continue it here.

Or just take a look at their website which has lots of animal info, gifts and and a what you can do page.

Sources: National Geographic and WWF

Images:
This image, owned by Tracy Gill (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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