BASIC FACTS ABOUT JAGUARS

The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. The jaguar has a compact body, a broad
head and powerful jaws. Its coat is normally yellow and tan, but the color can vary from
reddish brown to black. The spots on the coat are more solid and black on the head and
neck and become larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body.

As a top-level carnivore, the big cat helps prevent overgrazing of vegetation by keeping its prey
populations in balance. Jaguars are also important in human culture, frequently playing a central
role in stories, songs and prayers of indigenous people. Yet today, jaguars have been almost
completely eliminated from the United States.

DIET
Jaguars are known to eat deer, peccary, crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, deer, sloths, tapirs, turtles,
eggs, frogs, fish and anything else they can catch.

Did You Know?

The jaguar is the third-largest living feline species, after the tiger and lion.

POPULATION
At best, only an estimated 15,000 jaguars remain in the wild. Bi-national conservation efforts have
been successful at protecting a small population of 80 to 120 cats in the remote mountains of
Sonora, Mexico bordering Arizona. This population is the largest of three known to remain in
Sonora, and is the last hope for recovery in the United States.

RANGE & HABITAT

The mighty jaguar once roamed from Argentina in South America all the way up to the Grand
Canyon in Arizona. Today, jaguars have been almost completely eliminated from the United States
and are endangered throughout their range, which stretches down to Patagonia in South America.
The jaguar makes its home in a wide-variety of habitats including deciduous forests, rainforests,
swamps, pampas grasslands and mountain scrub areas.

BEHAVIOR
Jaguars are solitary animals and live and hunt alone, except during mating season. The male's home
range is between 19 and 53 square miles and often overlaps with the smaller home ranges of
multiple females. A male aggressively protects his home range and resident females from other
males.

The jaguar hunts mostly on the ground, but it sometimes climbs a tree and pounces on its prey from
above. It has very powerful jaws and sharp teeth and usually kills its prey with one crushing bite to
the skull. Unlike most big cats, the jaguar loves the water — it often swims, bathes, plays and even
hunts for fish in streams and pools. Like all members of the big cat family, jaguars can roar. The
jaguar’s roar sounds like a deep, chesty cough.

Did You Know?

According to one indigenous myth, the jaguar acquired its spotted coat by daubing mud on its body with its paws.

REPRODUCTION
Kittens stay with their mother from 1-1.5 years.

Mating Season: Occurs year-round

Gestation: 90-110 days
Litter size: 1-4 kittens