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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
jaguar |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Carnivora |
| FAMILY: |
Felidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Panthera
onca |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
The
base color of their coat varies from pale yellow
to reddish brown (with melanistic - black - coloration
commonly exhibited). A subtle countershading is
characteristic, with a deeper tone to the dorsal
coat fading to a light/white ventral coat. Solid,
black spots are found along the head, underbelly,
and legs. Oscellated spots occur along the back
and flanks. The general build is stout, compact,
and powerful. |
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| SIZE: |
Head
& body length = 1,120-1,850 mm
Tail length = 450-750 mm |
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| WEIGHT: |
36-185
kg |
| MALE |
Generally
90-120 kg |
| FEMALE |
Generally
60-90 kg |
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| DIET: |
Most
significantly, peccaries, capybaras, tapirs, crocodilians,
and fish |
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| GESTATION: |
93-105
days |
| NURSING
DURATION |
Weaned
at 5-6 months |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
2-4
years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Approximately
24 years |
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| RANGE: |
Southern
United States to Argentina |
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| HABITAT: |
Forests
and savannahs, with occasional intrusion into scrub
and desert environments. Presence is often tied
to a substantial fresh water source. |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
| REGIONAL |
Documented
figures include 600-1,000 in Belize; 500 in Guatemala;
500 in Mexico. |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Near Threatened |
| CITES |
Appendix
I |
| USFWS |
Endangered |
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| 1. |
Though
territorial ranges are usually established by jaguars,
these territories may shift due to seasonal conditions.
Additionally, male jaguars are known to wander for
hundreds of kilometers beyond their established
territory. |
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| 2. |
A
population density study in southwestern Brazil
indicated that (for the region) there was one jaguar
per every 25 km2. While females maintained
a home range of 25-38 km2 (with little
overlap), males maintained ranges roughly twice
as large (with overlap into multiple female home
ranges). |
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| 3. |
Through
the end of the Pleistocene, jaguars could be found
throughout the southern United States. |
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| While
the jaguar once populated the southern United States,
Central America, and South America, its presence
throughout this range has been extremely diminished.
It is rare or non-existant within the United States,
Mexico, most of Central America, eastern Brazil,
Uruguay, and much of Argentina. The jaguar's numbers
have fallen primarily as a result of commercial
fur hunting (with an estimated 15,000 Brazilian
jaguars being killed annually throughout the 1960's),
habitat loss, and culling actions attempting to
diminish their threat to livestock and humans. |
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| Nowak,
Ronald M. Walker's Mammals of the World - Volume
I (Sixth Edition) |
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