International Jaguar Day

1. The name jaguar is thought to come from the word yaguar, which means ‘he who kills with one leap’ or ‘true fierce beast’. Jaguars don’t chase their prey but instead leap on those they come across, attacking in one quick bite!

2. Jaguars are the third largest cat in the world. Only tigers and lions are bigger. They look very similar to leopards, but the rosettes they have are bigger and have dots in the middle. Most jaguars are a tan colour but some can be much darker, even looking almost completely black. If you look closely through you can still see their rose shaped rosettes. 

3. Jaguars are the only big cats living in the Americas. They live in Central and South America, including the Amazon Rainforest. In fact over half of all jaguars can be found in Brazil. There used to be quite a few in North America too but these days their numbers have been dramatically reduced.

4. Jaguars live in many different habitats, including tropical rainforests, grasslands, scrublands and river valleys. Wherever they do live  they like to be near water, such as a river.

5. Jaguars will pretty much eat any animal it comes across, including deer, monkeys, iguanas and armadillos. They will also catch prey in the water, enjoying creatures such as fish, turtles and even crocodiles. They have the strongest bite of any cat on Earth, which makes attacking their prey easier, they can even bite straight through a turtles shell or an animals skull! 

6. Jaguars are apex predators, which means they are at the top of the food chain. No creature would attack an adult jaguar. Their only dangers come from humans unfortunately. 

7. Jaguars like to live alone, unless they are females looking after their young cubs. Jaguars tend to look after their cubs for about two years. After that they are on their own! They are territorial, which means they don’t like other jaguars coming into their patch, although a male jaguars territory tends to be bigger and cross over with female territories. 

8. Jaguars are very good swimmers and enjoy spending time in water. They have webbed paws to help them swim.

9. Jaguars are also good at climbing and like to climb up trees to rest, or to hide their prey from other animals! They have retractable claws which helps when climbing trees.

10. Jaguars can roar, like most of the ‘big cats’. They use their roars to communicate with each other and to attract a mate. They can’t purr but they do make other noises for different forms of communication.