jaguar

[Spanish and Portuguese, from Guarani jaguá, yaguar, dog.]

For more information on jaguar, visit Britannica.com.

Panthera onca

SUBFAMILY

Pantherinae

TAXONOMY

Felis onca (Linnaeus, 1758), Central America.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Jaguar; German: Jaguar; Spanish: Tigre, tigre real, yaguar.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length 44–73 in (112–185 cm); tail 18–30 in (45–75 cm); weight 125–250 lb (57–113 kg). Similar in appearance to leopard. Massive head and strong canines. Yellowish brown coat, marked with dark rosettes around small black spots. Black spots on belly, pale chest. Melanistic (black) forms common. Tail ringed black near to tip.

DISTRIBUTION

Patagonia to southwest United States.

HABITAT

Dense forest, swamps, open grassland, deciduous forest. Strongly associated with water.

BEHAVIOR

Solitary, mainly nocturnal, but often active in daytime. Can roar, but more commonly heard grunting or coughing when hunting, snarling or growling when threatened. Excellent swimmer. Territory 10–60 mi² (25–150 km²), linked to prey availability.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Deer, peccaries, tapirs, monkeys, birds, rodents, fish, frogs. Mainly hunts large prey, but takes smaller items opportunistically. The only big cat which regularly kills prey by piercing skull with canines. Massive head and strong canines enable jaguars to crack open tortoises and turtles.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygamous. Gestation 95–110 days, litter one to four. Cubs independent after 18–24 months. Females sexually mature at two to three years, males at three to four.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Classified as Lower Risk/Near Threatened by IUCN. Now virtually eliminated from much of drier northern range in the United States, and pampas scrub of Agrentina and Uruguay. Deforestation and fragmentation of forest habitats pose a threat in central America.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Jaguars takes cattle as a significant portion of their diet in some parts, and are heavily persecuted by cattle ranchers. Commercial trade in skins has become insignificant since CITES trade ban of 1975.

Since their creation in 1936, Jaguars have increased their numbers in the United States from zero to hundreds of thousands. Dealers who sell them are found in practically every state. But these are the British variety. The original American jaguar, the inspiration for the motor vehicle, has experienced a population decline corresponding to the increase for the car.

Centuries ago there were many thousands of jaguars in the southern parts of what is now the United States. In the mid-twentieth century, a few were still to be seen in Arizona. Nowadays there are not even a hundred live jaguars in the United States, and all of them are in zoos. In 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the jaguar an endangered species. If any should show up in Arizona again, they'll be protected.

Fortunately, only a small part of the jaguar's original habitat was north of the Rio Grande. It ranged from the United States all the way south through Latin America, so there are still some wild jaguars left. But it is greatly endangered even in those places where it is still found: Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Belize, the Amazon rainforest of eastern Brazil, Patagonia, and Argentina. It faces the danger of being hunted by humans for its spotted fur, and the even greater danger of destruction of its habitat. Jaguars prefer rain forests and swamps.

They are solitary, fast, and nocturnal, often surprising their prey with a leap in the dark. The speed, agility, and fierceness of the jaguar are commemorated in the hood ornament of the Jaguar, the "leaper" first displayed in 1937 and now standard on all XJ Series Jaguar sedans sold in North America.

The word jaguar came into English as long ago as 1604, in a book on the West Indies. It immigrated directly from the Guaraní language, spoken today by more than three million people in Paraguay. Guaraní is the principal member of the Tupí-Guaraní language family. In Guaraní, jaguara apparently is the general name for any kind of carnivore; the animal we call jaguar is their jaguareté or "true jaguar." Aside from jaguar, Guaraní has also given us the names of two wading birds, the jacana (1753) and jabiru (1774).

The leopard of the New World. A very large yellow cat with black spots, four or five spots being arranged around a central one in a rosette formation, a good swimmer and an avid predator, even a man-eater. Called also Panthera onca.

The jaguar represents speed, agility, and sleek power. It is also associated with mystical powers.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - jaguar

Nederlands (Dutch)
jaguar

Français (French)
n. - jaguar

Deutsch (German)
n. - Jaguar

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ζωολ.) ιαγουάρος, τζάγκουαρ, (αυτοκίνητο) Τζάγκουαρ

Italiano (Italian)
giaguaro

Português (Portuguese)
n. - jaguar (m), onça (f)

Русский (Russian)
ягуар, "Ггуар", марка автомобиля

Español (Spanish)
n. - jaguar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - jaguar

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
美洲虎

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 美洲虎

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 아메리카 표범, 영국제 스포츠카의 이름

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ジャガー

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فهد امريكي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮יגואר (חיה)‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.