The jaguar is the largest wild cat in the western hemisphere. They are generally orange or tan in color, with black rosette spots, or markings arranged in a rose shape. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jaguar/ Jaguars found in the deepest parts of the rainforest, where it is the darkest, may appear on initial sighting to be solid black, but actually have black-on-black markings that are discernable under close inspection.http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-jaguar.html They have a white spot in the center of their ears, and multiple small spots within their rosette markings, unlike the leopard. http://www.catsurvivaltrust.org/jaguar.htm Additionally, jaguars are stockier and heavier than leopards, and their tails are both thicker and shorter. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-jaguar.html

Swimming, bathing, and playing in streams and pools is common behavior for this water-loving cat. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php Jaguars prefer to inhabit thickly wooded areas where they can make a den in a cave or under overhanging rocks. http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/jag.htm A male jaguar may share his home range, averaging between twenty and fifty square miles, with several females, and he will protect his territory from other males aggressively, ensuring that the females in his area mate only with him. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php Their gestation period is 90 to 110 days, and the average litter contains one to four cubs. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php The male jaguar will live with the female during the mating period, the gestation, and for approximately four years after the birth of cubs. The father is instrumental in teaching the cubs to defend themselves, hunt, and find shelter. The mother nurses the cubs, and also assists in teaching hunting.http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/jaguar.htm

The jaguar has a wide variety of food sources; researchers have discovered that they have more than 80 types of prey, including sheep, rodents, deer, birds, monkeys, cattle and anacondas. http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/jaguar.htmJaguars are accomplished swimmers, and hunt in rivers for prey including fish, turtles, and small alligator-like animals called caimans. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jaguar/ They will also climb trees near water sources to hunt herding animals, such as cattle or sheep, where the jaguar can pounce onto prey once they stop to drink. http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/jaguar.htm The jaguar has extremely powerful jaws and teeth, and tends to kill its prey with one fierce bite to its skull. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php

Jaguars are listed as an endangered species under the US Endangered Species Act, and are considered a threatened species by the IUCN. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php Humans are the primary threat to the jaguar, mainly due to encroachment onto their natural hunting lands, ranchers trapping and poisoning the animals to prevent them from killing cattle, and poaching for their coats. http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/jaguar.htm Because jaguars have less fear of man than other species, they often expose themselves to hunters and poachers. http://www.catsurvivaltrust.org/jaguar.htm Blindness is a growing problem for jaguars in the wild, due to exposure to agrochemicals. http://www.catsurvivaltrust.org/jaguar.htm