Zoo BI Cart Feline Jaguar Flashcards
Q: Jaguar range
Central and South America
Q: Jaguar habitat
Rainforests, temperate forests, wetlands, grassland and strongly associated with the presence of water
Q: Jaguar niche
Crepuscular and nocturnal, terrestrial, carnivorous
Q: Jaguar wild diet
Obligate carnivores.
Capybaras, tapirs, peccaries, armadillos, monkeys, birds, snakes, caiman, turtles, and fish.
Q: Jaguar zoo diet
Fortified horsemeat
Q: Jaguar lifespan
(Wild) 12 - 15 years
(Captivity) 23 years. Oldest was 29?
Q: Jaguar sexual dimorphism
Females are typically 10–20% smaller than males
Q: Jaguar top speed
50 mph (second-fastest big cat in the world)
Q: Jaguar length
5-6 ft
Q: Jaguar tail length
Shortest tail of any of the big cats, which matches their stocky build.
2 ft
Q: Jaguar shoulder height
26 - 30 in
Q: Jaguar weight
M 126 – 250 lbs
F 100 – 200 lbs
Q: Jaguar coloration and pelt
They are typically tawny-colored and blanketed with black rosettes for camouflage in its jungle habitat.
Q: Jaguar body physical characteristics, qualitative (quantitative info, coloration, pelt, and head are separate cards)
Jaguars are the largest cat species found in the Americas.
Their size is variable depending on their habitat; forest-dwelling cats are smaller than their grass- or wetlands counterparts.
Jaguars found in southern regions are also typically larger than those found in the north.
Its stocky body and limbs makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling, and swimming.
Q: Jaguar head physical characteristics
The jaguar has a relatively large head with an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. This allows it to pierce the shells of armored reptiles with its canines 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.
Q: Jaguar conservation status
The jaguar is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red list and its numbers are declining.
It is regulated as an Appendix I species under CITES.
Appendix I: species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
Q: Main threats to Jaguars
Habitat loss.
Hunting by humans especially in conflicts with ranchers and farmers.
Q: Jaguar conservation efforts
-Current conservation efforts often focus on educating ranch owners and promoting ecotourism.
-The jaguar is generally defined as an umbrella species – its home range and habitat requirements are sufficiently broad that, if protected, numerous other species of smaller range will also be protected.
-Umbrella species serve as “mobile links” at the landscape scale, in the jaguar’s case through predation. Conservation organizations may thus focus on providing viable, connected habitat for the jaguar, with the knowledge other species will also benefit.
Q: Jaguar interaction/communication with other jaguars
Like most large cats, jaguars are solitary animals.
Mature jaguars only interact to mate or dispute territory.
The jaguar uses scrape marks, urine, and feces to mark its territory.
Q: Jaguar vocalization
Being in the genus Panthera, they are considered a “big cat” but their roar often resembles a cough or grunt.
Q: Jaguar hunting strategy
Jaguars are “stalk-and-ambush” hunters.
Can capture prey up to twice their size.
The jaguar hunts mostly on the ground, but it sometimes climbs a tree and pounces on its prey from above.
On killing prey, the jaguar will drag the carcass to a thicket or other secluded spot.
It begins eating at the neck and chest, rather than the midsection. The heart and lungs are consumed, followed by the shoulders.
Q: Jaguar courtship and young
Jaguars can breed year-round.
Cubs are born blind and helpless, reliant on their mother’s care for survival.
They will stay in the den for up to six months before joining their mother on hunts.
Cubs learn to catch prey from mother.
Jaguars will stay with their mother for up to two years before establishing their own territory.
Q: Jaguar estrous
6-17 days out of full 37 day cycle
Q: Jaguar sexual maturity
F 2 yrs
M 3 – 4 yrs
Q: Jaguar gestation
93 – 105 days
Q: Jaguar weaning age
3 mos
Q: Jaguar # of young
1 – 4 cubs; twins most common
Q: Jaguar’s position in the ecosystem
Adult jaguar is an apex predator, meaning it exists at the top of its food chain and is not preyed on in the wild.
It is a keystone species, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystem and regulating the populations of the animals it hunts.
Q: Are there different colors of Jaguars?
Melanism (hyperpigmentation of the fur) occurs in this species resulting in black fur.
Melanistic jaguars sometimes referred to as “black panthers”.
Q: How to distinguish a Jaguar from a Leopard?
Jaguar closely resembles the leopard.
Jaguar is sturdier and heavier.
Rosettes: the rosettes on a jaguar’s coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks.
Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to leopards.
