Jaguars

Jaguars, also known as Panthera Onca, are the largest of South America's big cats and the third largest cats in the world. Jaguars are known for their powerful jaw strength, and their love of water. Jaguars are fast on land, and they are also very good swimmers. On land, they can go up to 64 miles per hour over a short distance. Their body is built for climbing, making them lethal predators to monkeys, and other creatures dwelling in the trees

The jaguar's diet is mainly made up of peccaries, deer, capybaras, and tapirs, though sometimes they can eat larger prey, like crocodiles. Jaguars are the apex predator of its territory. It will, if it’s so inclined, attack and eat any other animal that it is likely to come across. This is, by no small measure, attributed to the fact that the jaguar has the strongest bite force of any mammal, and more than twice as much as any other big cat, making it easy to crush bone. Jaguar prefer to bite into its preys skull, and kill it quickly. Jaguars usually store the remains in dens, holes, or even caves.

Jaguars are found on the American continents; they live in Texas, in the Cerro Colorado Mountains in Arizona, the southern part of California, and New Mexico, in the United States, and are found in rain forests in Central and South America. The largest known population exists in the Amazon rain forests. Jaguars prefer damp terrain, with plentiful, lush plant life.

Jaguars can grow up to 1.2 m long, and 76 cm tall. Jaguars are built of pure muscle, they are the real king of the jungle, but muscle can't help the jaguar against hunters. During the sixties and seventies, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for their beautiful coat. In present time, not as many jaguars are killed, but hunters still kill them to this day. Some Wildlife Biologists try to prevent this, but it isn't an easy task. One of the most famous jaguar biologists, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, and has spent nearly his whole life trying to prevent such a terrible thing. The main cause of jaguar deaths is deforestation. Hundreds of miles of jaguar territory has been cleared by human machinery. In this condition, jaguars are forced to retreat into cramped territory, unfit for their natural needs.

A condition known as Melanism, causes a jaguars pelt to turn black. Many people think a Black panther is an entirely different species, but the black panther is multiple species. Black panthers can be Jaguar, and Leopards, depending on were they are from.