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The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to Template:Cvt and a weight of up to Template:Cvt, it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Its distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain.
The modern jaguar's ancestors probably entered the Americas from Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene via the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. Today, the jaguar's range extends from the Southwestern United States across Mexico and much of Central America, the Amazon rainforest and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. It inhabits a variety of forested and open terrains, but its preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest, wetlands and wooded regions. It is adept at swimming and is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush apex predator. As a keystone species, it plays an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and in regulating prey populations.
The jaguar is threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, poaching for trade with its body parts and killings in human–wildlife conflict situations, particularly with ranchers in Central and South America. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The wild population is thought to have declined since the late 1990s. Priority areas for jaguar conservation comprise 51 Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs), defined as large areas inhabited by at least 50 breeding jaguars. The JCUs are located in 36 geographic regions ranging from Mexico to Argentina.
The jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of indigenous peoples of the Americas, including those of the Aztec and Maya civilizations.
EtymologyEdit
The word "jaguar" is possibly derived from the Tupi-Guarani word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning 'wild beast that overcomes its prey at a bound'.<ref name=Guggisberg1975>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Seymour/> In North America, the word is pronounced disyllabic Template:IPAc-en, while in British English, it is pronounced with three syllables Template:IPAc-en.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Because that word also applies to other animals, indigenous peoples in Guyana call it {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, with the added sufix eté, meaning "true beast".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "Onca" is derived from the Portuguese name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} for a spotted cat that is larger than a lynx; cf. ounce.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The word "panther" is derived from classical Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, itself from the ancient Greek {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Transliteration).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Taxonomy and evolutionEdit
TaxonomyEdit
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the jaguar in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific name Felis onca.<ref name=Linn1758>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several jaguar type specimens formed the basis for descriptions of subspecies.<ref name=MSW3/> In 1939, Reginald Innes Pocock recognized eight subspecies based on the geographic origins and skull morphology of these specimens.<ref name=Pocock1939>Template:Cite journal</ref> Pocock did not have access to sufficient zoological specimens to critically evaluate their subspecific status but expressed doubt about the status of several. Later consideration of his work suggested only three subspecies should be recognized. The description of P. o. palustris was based on a fossil skull.<ref name=Seymour>Template:Cite journal</ref>
By 2005, nine subspecies were considered to be valid taxa:<ref name=MSW3 />
- P. o. onca Template:Small was a jaguar from Brazil.<ref name=Linn1758 />
- P. o. peruviana Template:Small was a jaguar skull from Peru.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- P. o. hernandesii Template:Small was a jaguar from Mazatlán in Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- P. o. palustris Template:Small was a fossil jaguar mandible excavated in the Sierras Pampeanas of Córdova District, Argentina.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- P. o. centralis Template:Small was a skull of a male jaguar from Talamanca, Costa Rica.<ref name=Mearns>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- P. o. goldmani Template:Small was a jaguar skin from Yohatlan in Campeche, Mexico.<ref name=Mearns />
- P. o. paraguensis Template:Small was a skull of a male jaguar from Paraguay.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- P. o. arizonensis Template:Small was a skin and skull of a male jaguar from the vicinity of Cibecue, Arizona.<ref name=Goldman1932>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- P. o. veraecrucis Template:Small was a skull of a male jaguar from San Andrés Tuxtla in Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Reginald Innes Pocock placed the jaguar in the genus Panthera and observed that it shares several morphological features with the leopard (P. pardus). He, therefore, concluded that they are most closely related to each other.<ref name=Pocock1939 /> Results of morphological and genetic research indicate a clinal north–south variation between populations, but no evidence for subspecific differentiation.<ref name=Eizirik /><ref name=Larson>Template:Cite journal</ref> DNA analysis of 84 jaguar samples from South America revealed that the gene flow between jaguar populations in Colombia was high in the past.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Since 2017, the jaguar is considered to be a monotypic taxon,<ref name="catsg">Template:Cite journal</ref> though the modern Panthera onca onca is still distinguished from two fossil subspecies, Panthera onca augusta and Panthera onca mesembrina. However, the 2024 study suggested that the validity of subspecific assignments on both P. o. augusta and P. o. mesembrina remains unresolved, since both fossil and living jaguars show a considerable variation in morphometry.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
EvolutionEdit
The Panthera lineage is estimated to have genetically diverged from the common ancestor of the Felidae around Template:Ma to Template:Ma.<ref name="Johnson2006">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Werdelin2010">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Li_al2016>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some genetic analyzes place the jaguar as a sister species to the lion with which it diverged Template:Ma,<ref name=Johnson2006/><ref name="Werdelin2010"/> but other studies place the lion closer to the leopard.<ref name="davis2010">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="mazak2011">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The lineage of the jaguar appears to have originated in Africa and spread to Eurasia 1.95–1.77 mya. The living jaguar species is often suggested to have descended from the Eurasian Panthera gombaszoegensis. The ancestor of the jaguar entered the American continent via Beringia, the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait,<ref name="Argant2011">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some authors have disputed the close relationship between P. gombaszoegensis (which is primarily known from Europe) and the modern jaguar.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> The oldest fossils of modern jaguars (P. onca) have been found in North America dating between 850,000-820,000 years ago.<ref name=SK1993/> Results of mitochondrial DNA analysis of 37 jaguars indicate that current populations evolved between 510,000 and 280,000 years ago in northern South America and subsequently recolonized North and Central America after the extinction of jaguars there during the Late Pleistocene.<ref name=Eizirik>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Two extinct subspecies of jaguar are recognized in the fossil record: the North American P. o. augusta and South American P. o. mesembrina.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
DescriptionEdit
The jaguar is a compact and muscular animal. It is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest in the world, exceeded in size only by the tiger and the lion.<ref name=Seymour /><ref name="sizes">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="sizes22">Template:Cite journal</ref> It stands Template:Cvt tall at the shoulders.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=Scognamillo2003>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its size and weight vary considerably depending on sex and region: weights in most regions are normally in the range of Template:Cvt. Exceptionally big males have been recorded to weigh as much as Template:Cvt.<ref name=r10 /><ref name="Animal">Template:Cite book</ref> The smallest females from Middle America weigh about Template:Cvt. It is sexually dimorphic, with females typically being 10–20% smaller than males. The length from the nose to the base of the tail varies from Template:Cvt. The tail is Template:Cvt long and the shortest of any big cat.<ref name=r10>Template:Cite book</ref> Its muscular legs are shorter than the legs of other Panthera species with similar body weight.<ref name=Gonyea1976 />
Size tends to increase from north to south. Jaguars in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Pacific coast of central Mexico weighed around Template:Cvt.<ref name=foodhabits>Template:Cite journal</ref> Jaguars in Venezuela and Brazil are much larger, with average weights of about Template:Cvt in males and of about Template:Cvt in females.<ref name=Seymour />
The jaguar's coat ranges from pale yellow to tan or reddish-yellow, with a whitish underside and covered in black spots. The spots and their shapes vary: on the sides, they become rosettes which may include one or several dots. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail where they may merge to form bands near the end and create a black tip. They are elongated on the middle of the back, often connecting to create a median stripe, and blotchy on the belly.<ref name=Seymour /> These patterns serve as camouflage in areas with dense vegetation and patchy shadows.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Jaguars living in forests are often darker and considerably smaller than those living in open areas, possibly due to the smaller numbers of large, herbivorous prey in forest areas.<ref name=CAP>Template:Cite book</ref>
The jaguar closely resembles the leopard but is generally more robust, with stockier limbs and a more square head. The rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, darker, fewer in number and have thicker lines, with a small spot in the middle.<ref name=Gonyea1976>Template:Cite journal</ref> It has powerful jaws with the third-highest bite force of all felids, after the tiger and the lion.<ref name=Wroe2006>Template:Cite journal</ref> It has an average bite force at the canine tip of 887.0 Newton and a bite force quotient at the canine tip of 118.6.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A Template:Cvt jaguar can bite with a force of Template:Cvt with the canine teeth and Template:Cvt at the carnassial notch.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Color variationEdit
Melanistic jaguars are also known as black panthers. The black morph is less common than the spotted one.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Black jaguars have been documented in Central and South America. Melanism in the jaguar is caused by deletions in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene and inherited through a dominant allele.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Black jaguars occur at higher densities in tropical rainforest and are more active during the daytime. This suggests that melanism provides camouflage in dense vegetation with high illumination.<ref name=Mooring2020/>
In 2004, a camera trap in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains photographed the first documented black jaguar in Northern Mexico.<ref name=Dinets>Template:Cite journal</ref> Black jaguars were also photographed in Costa Rica's Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve, in the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in Barbilla National Park and in eastern Panama.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Mooring2020>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Distribution and habitatEdit
In 1999, the jaguar's historic range at the turn of the 20th century was estimated at Template:Cvt, stretching from the southern United States through Central America to southern Argentina. By the turn of the 21st century, its global range had decreased to about Template:Cvt, with most declines occurring in the southern United States, northern Mexico, northern Brazil, and southern Argentina.<ref name=Sanderson2002>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its present range extends from Mexico through Central America to South America comprising Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, particularly on the Osa Peninsula, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It is considered to be locally extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.<ref name=iucn />
Jaguars have been occasionally sighted in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, with 62 accounts reported in the 20th century.<ref name=BG2000>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Pavlik>Template:Cite journal</ref> Between 2012 and 2015, a male vagrant jaguar was recorded in 23 locations in the Santa Rita Mountains.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> Eight jaguars were photographed in the southwestern US between 1996 and 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The jaguar prefers dense forest and typically inhabits dry deciduous forests, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, rainforests and cloud forests in Central and South America; open, seasonally flooded wetlands, dry grassland and historically also oak forests in the United States. It has been recorded at elevations up to Template:Cvt but avoids montane forests. It favors riverine habitat and swamps with dense vegetation cover.<ref name=CAP /> In the Mayan forests of Mexico and Guatemala, 11 GPS-collared jaguars preferred undisturbed dense habitat away from roads; females avoided even areas with low levels of human activity, whereas males appeared less disturbed by human population density.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A young male jaguar was also recorded in the semi-arid Sierra de San Carlos at a waterhole.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Former rangeEdit
In the 19th century, the jaguar was still sighted at the North Platte River Template:Cvt north of Longs Peak in Colorado, in coastal Louisiana, northern Arizona and New Mexico.<ref name=Daggett>Template:Cite journal</ref> Multiple verified zoological reports of the jaguar are known in California, two as far north as Monterey in 1814 and 1826. The only record of an active jaguar den with breeding adults and kittens in the United States was in the Tehachapi Mountains of California prior to 1860.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The jaguar persisted in California until about 1860.<ref name=Pavlik/> The last confirmed jaguar in Texas was shot in 1948, Template:Cvt southeast of Kingsville, Texas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Arizona, a female was shot in the White Mountains in 1963. By the late 1960s, the jaguar was thought to have been extirpated in the United States. Arizona outlawed jaguar hunting in 1969, but by then no females remained, and over the next 25 years only two males were sighted and killed in the state. In 1996, a rancher and hunting guide from Douglas, Arizona came across a jaguar in the Peloncillo Mountains and became a researcher on jaguars, placing trail cameras, which recorded four more jaguars.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Behavior and ecologyEdit
The jaguar is mostly active at night and during twilight.<ref name=Scognamillo2003/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, jaguars living in densely forested regions of the Amazon Rainforest and the Pantanal are largely active by day, whereas jaguars in the Atlantic Forest are primarily active by night.<ref name="Astate et al. 2008">Template:Cite journal</ref> The activity pattern of the jaguar coincides with the activity of its main prey species.<ref name="Harmsen et al. 2011">Template:Cite journal</ref> Jaguars are good swimmers and play and hunt in the water, possibly more than tigers. They have been recorded moving between islands and the shore. Jaguars are also good at climbing trees but do so less often than cougars.<ref name=Seymour />
Ecological roleEdit
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The adult jaguar is an apex predator, meaning it is at the top of the food chain and is not preyed upon in the wild. The jaguar has also been termed a keystone species, as it is assumed that it controls the population levels of prey such as herbivorous and seed-eating mammals and thus maintains the structural integrity of forest systems.<ref name=foodhabits /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, field work has shown this may be natural variability, and the population increases may not be sustained. Thus, the keystone predator hypothesis is not accepted by all scientists.<ref name=r30>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The jaguar is sympatric with the cougar. In central Mexico, both prey on white-tailed deer, which makes up 54% and 66% of jaguar and cougar's prey, respectively.<ref name=foodhabits /> In northern Mexico, the jaguar and the cougar share the same habitat, and their diet overlaps dependent on prey availability. Jaguars seemed to prefer deer and calves. In Mexico and Central America, neither of the two cats are considered to be the dominant predator.<ref name=GGLG2017>Template:Cite journal</ref> In South America, the jaguar is larger than the cougar and tends to take larger prey, usually over Template:Cvt. The cougar's prey usually weighs between Template:Cvt, which is thought to be the reason for its smaller size.<ref name=r31>Template:Cite journal</ref> This situation may be advantageous to the cougar. Its broader prey niche, including its ability to take smaller prey, may give it an advantage over the jaguar in human-altered landscapes.<ref name=foodhabits/>
Hunting and dietEdit
The jaguar is an obligate carnivore and depends solely on flesh for its nutrient requirements. An analysis of 53 studies documenting the diet of the jaguar revealed that its prey ranges in weight from Template:Cvt; it prefers prey weighing Template:Cvt, with the capybara and the giant anteater being the most selected. When available, it also preys on marsh deer, southern tamandua, collared peccary and black agouti.<ref name=sizes/> In floodplains, jaguars opportunistically take reptiles such as green anacondas, turtles and caimans.<ref name=reptile/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Consumption of reptiles appears to be more frequent in jaguars than in other big cats.<ref name=reptile>Template:Cite journal</ref> One remote population in the Brazilian Pantanal is recorded to primarily feed on aquatic reptiles and fish.<ref name=Eriksson2021>Template:Cite journal</ref> The jaguar also preys on livestock in cattle ranching areas where wild prey is scarce.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The daily food requirement of a captive jaguar weighing Template:Cvt was estimated at Template:Cvt of meat.<ref name=Emmons1987/>
The jaguar's bite force allows it to pierce the carapaces of the yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle and the yellow-footed tortoise.<ref name=Emmons1987>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It employs an unusual killing method: it bites mammalian prey directly through the skull between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.<ref name=rosa>Template:Cite book</ref> It kills capybara by piercing its canine teeth through the temporal bones of its skull, breaking its zygomatic arch and mandible and penetrating its brain, often through the ears.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It has been hypothesized to be an adaptation to cracking open turtle shells; armored reptiles may have formed an abundant prey base for the jaguar following the late Pleistocene extinctions.<ref name=Emmons1987 /> However, this is disputed, as even in areas where jaguars prey on reptiles, they are still taken relatively infrequently compared to mammals in spite of their greater abundance.<ref name=reptile/>
Between October 2001 and April 2004, 10 jaguars were monitored in the southern Pantanal. In the dry season from April to September, they killed prey at intervals ranging from one to seven days; and ranging from one to 16 days in the wet season from October to March.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The jaguar uses a stalk-and-ambush strategy when hunting rather than chasing prey. The cat will slowly walk down forest paths, listening for and stalking prey before rushing or ambushing. The jaguar attacks from cover and usually from a target's blind spot with a quick pounce; the species' ambushing abilities are considered nearly peerless in the animal kingdom by both indigenous people and field researchers and are probably a product of its role as an apex predator in several different environments. The ambush may include leaping into water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming; its strength is such that carcasses as large as a heifer can be hauled up a tree to avoid flood levels. After killing prey, the jaguar will drag the carcass to a thicket or other secluded spot. It begins eating at the neck and chest. The heart and lungs are consumed, followed by the shoulders.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Social activityEdit
_male_meeting_a_young_female_(back)_..._-_Flickr_-_berniedup.jpg){kind=link}
The jaguar is generally solitary except for females with cubs. In 1977, groups consisting of a male, female and cubs, and two females with two males were sighted several times in a study area in the Paraguay River valley.<ref name=Schaller1980/> In some areas, males may form paired coalitions which together mark, defend and invade territories, find and mate with the same females and search for and share prey.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A radio-collared female moved in a home range of Template:Cvt, which partly overlapped with another female. The home range of the male in this study area overlapped with several females.<ref name=Schaller1980>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The jaguar uses scrape marks, urine, and feces to mark its territory.<ref name=Rabinowitz>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The size of home ranges depends on the level of deforestation and human population density. The home ranges of females vary from Template:Cvt in the Pantanal to Template:Cvt in the Amazon to Template:Cvt in the Atlantic Forest. Male jaguar home ranges vary from Template:Cvt in the Pantanal to Template:Cvt in the Amazon to Template:Cvt in the Atlantic Forest and Template:Cvt in the Cerrado.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Studies employing GPS telemetry in 2003 and 2004 found densities of only six to seven jaguars per Template:Cvt in the Pantanal region, compared with 10 to 11 using traditional methods; this suggests the widely used sampling methods may inflate the actual numbers of individuals in a sampling area.<ref name=soisalo/> Fights between males occur but are rare, and avoidance behavior has been observed in the wild.<ref name=Rabinowitz/> In one wetland population with degraded territorial boundaries and more social proximity, adults of the same sex are more tolerant of each other and engage in more friendly and co-operative interactions.<ref name=Eriksson2021/>
The jaguar roars/grunts for long-distance communication;<ref name=Seymour /><ref name=Emmons1987 /> intensive bouts of counter-calling between individuals have been observed in the wild.<ref name=Emmons1987 /> This vocalization is described as "hoarse" with five or six guttural notes.<ref name=Seymour /> Chuffing is produced by individuals when greeting, during courting, or by a mother comforting her cubs. This sound is described as low intensity snorts, possibly intended to signal tranquility and passivity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Cubs have been recorded bleating, gurgling and mewing.<ref name=Seymour />
Reproduction and life cycleEdit
_Jaguar_mating_-_Panthera_onca.jpg){kind=link}
In captivity, the female jaguar is recorded to reach sexual maturity at the age of about 2.5 years. Estrus lasts 7–15 days with an estrus cycle of 41.8 to 52.6 days. During estrus, she exhibits increased restlessness with rolling and prolonged vocalizations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> She is an induced ovulator but can also ovulate spontaneously.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Gestation lasts 91 to 111 days.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The male is sexually mature at the age of three to four years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His mean ejaculate volume is 8.6±1.3 ml.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Generation length of the jaguar is 9.8 years.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In the Pantanal, breeding pairs were observed to stay together for up to five days. Females had one to two cubs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The young are born with closed eyes but open them after two weeks. Cubs are weaned at the age of three months but remain in the birth den for six months before leaving to accompany their mother on hunts.<ref name=SWWL>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Jaguars remain with their mothers for up to two years. They appear to rarely live beyond 11 years, but captive individuals may live 22 years.<ref name=Seymour />
In 2001, a male jaguar killed and partially consumed two cubs in Emas National Park. DNA paternity testing of blood samples revealed that the male was the father of the cubs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Two more cases of infanticide were documented in the northern Pantanal in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> To defend against infanticide, the female may hide her cubs and distract the male with courtship behavior.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Attacks on humansEdit
Template:Further The Spanish conquistadors feared the jaguar. According to Charles Darwin, the indigenous peoples of South America stated that people did not need to fear the jaguar as long as capybaras were abundant.<ref name=Porter1894>Template:Cite book</ref> The first official record of a jaguar killing a human in Brazil dates to June 2008.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Two children were attacked by jaguars in Guyana.<ref name=r22>Template:Cite journal</ref> The majority of known attacks on people happened when it had been cornered or wounded.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
ThreatsEdit
The jaguar is threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat, illegal killing in retaliation for livestock depredation and for illegal trade in jaguar body parts. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the jaguar population has probably declined by 20–25% since the mid-1990s. Deforestation is a major threat to the jaguar across its range. Habitat loss was most rapid in drier regions such as the Argentine pampas, the arid grasslands of Mexico and the southwestern United States.<ref name=iucn/>
In 2002, it was estimated that the range of the jaguar had declined to about 46% of its range in the early 20th century.<ref name=Sanderson2002/> In 2018, it was estimated that its range had declined by 55% in the last century. The only remaining stronghold is the Amazon rainforest, a region that is rapidly being fragmented by deforestation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Between 2000 and 2012, forest loss in the jaguar range amounted to Template:Convert, with fragmentation increasing in particular in corridors between Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> By 2014, direct linkages between two JCUs in Bolivia were lost, and two JCUs in northern Argentina became completely isolated due to deforestation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In Mexico, the jaguar is primarily threatened by poaching. Its habitat is fragmented in northern Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, caused by changes in land use, construction of roads and tourism infrastructure.<ref name=Ceballos2016>Template:Cite book</ref> In Panama, 220 of 230 jaguars were killed in retaliation for predation on livestock between 1998 and 2014.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Venezuela, the jaguar was extirpated in about 26% of its range in the country since 1940, mostly in dry savannas and unproductive scrubland in the northeastern region of Anzoátegui.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Ecuador, the jaguar is threatened by reduced prey availability in areas where the expansion of the road network facilitated access of human hunters to forests.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests, at least 117 jaguars were killed in Iguaçu National Park and the adjacent Misiones Province between 1995 and 2008.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some Afro-Colombians in the Colombian Chocó Department hunt jaguars for consumption and sale of meat.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Between 2008 and 2012, at least 15 jaguars were killed by livestock farmers in central Belize.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The international trade of jaguar skins boomed between the end of the Second World War and the early 1970s.<ref name="SkinTrade">Template:Cite book</ref> Significant declines occurred in the 1960s, as more than 15,000 jaguars were yearly killed for their skins in the Brazilian Amazon alone; the trade in jaguar skins decreased since 1973 when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species was enacted.<ref name="r32">Template:Cite journal</ref> Interview surveys with 533 people in the northwestern Bolivian Amazon revealed that local people killed jaguars out of fear, in retaliation, and for trade.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Between August 2016 and August 2019, jaguar skins and body parts were seen for sale in tourist markets in the Peruvian cities of Lima, Iquitos and Pucallpa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Human-wildlife conflict, opportunistic hunting and hunting for trade in domestic markets are key drivers for killing jaguars in Belize and Guatemala.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Seizure reports indicate that at least 857 jaguars were involved in trade between 2012 and 2018, including 482 individuals in Bolivia alone; 31 jaguars were seized in China.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Between 2014 and early 2019, 760 jaguar fangs were seized that originated in Bolivia and were destined for China. Undercover investigations revealed that the smuggling of jaguar body parts is run by Chinese residents in Bolivia.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>
ConservationEdit
The jaguar is listed on CITES Appendix I, which means that all international commercial trade in jaguars or their body parts is prohibited. Hunting jaguars is prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States, and Venezuela. Hunting jaguars is restricted in Guatemala and Peru.<ref name=iucn /> In Ecuador, hunting jaguars is prohibited, and it is classified as threatened with extinction.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Guyana, it is protected as an endangered species, and hunting it is illegal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1986, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was established in Belize as the world's first protected area for jaguar conservation.<ref name=Weckel>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Jaguar Conservation UnitsEdit
In 1999, field scientists from 18 jaguar range countries determined the most important areas for long-term jaguar conservation based on the status of jaguar population units, stability of prey base and quality of habitat. These areas, called "Jaguar Conservation Units" (JCUs), are large enough for at least 50 breeding individuals and range in size from Template:Cvt; 51 JCUs were designated in 36 geographic regions including:<ref name=Sanderson2002 />
- the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra de Tamaulipas in Mexico
- the Selva Maya tropical forests extending over Mexico, Belize and Guatemala
- the Chocó–Darién moist forests from Honduras and Panama to Colombia
- Venezuelan Llanos
- northern Cerrado and Amazon basin in Brazil
- Tropical Andes in Bolivia and Peru
- Misiones Province in Argentina
Optimal routes of travel between core jaguar population units were identified across its range in 2010 to implement wildlife corridors that connect JCUs. These corridors represent areas with the shortest distance between jaguar breeding populations, require the least possible energy input of dispersing individuals and pose a low mortality risk. They cover an area of Template:Cvt and range in length from Template:Cvt in Mexico and Central America and from Template:Cvt in South America.<ref name=RabinowitzZeller2010>Template:Cite journal</ref> Cooperation with local landowners and municipal, state, or federal agencies is essential to maintain connected populations and prevent fragmentation in both JCUs and corridors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Seven of 13 corridors in Mexico are functioning with a width of at least Template:Cvt and a length of no more than Template:Cvt. The other corridors may hamper passage, as they are narrower and longer.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In August 2012, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service set aside Template:Cvt in Arizona and New Mexico for the protection of the jaguar.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Jaguar Recovery Plan was published in April 2019, in which Interstate 10 is considered to form the northern boundary of the Jaguar Recovery Unit in Arizona and New Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In Mexico, a national conservation strategy was developed from 2005 on and published in 2016.<ref name=Ceballos2016/> The Mexican jaguar population increased from an estimated 4,000 individuals in 2010 to about 4,800 individuals in 2018. This increase is seen as a positive effect of conservation measures that were implemented in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental institutions and landowners.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
An evaluation of JCUs from Mexico to Argentina revealed that they overlap with high-quality habitats of about 1,500 mammals to varying degrees. Since co-occurring mammals benefit from the JCU approach, the jaguar has been called an umbrella species.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Central American JCUs overlap with the habitat of 187 of 304 regional endemic amphibian and reptile species, of which 19 amphibians occur only in the jaguar range.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
ApproachesEdit
In setting up protected reserves, efforts generally also have to be focused on the surrounding areas, as jaguars are unlikely to confine themselves to the bounds of a reservation, especially if the population is increasing in size. Human attitudes in the areas surrounding reserves and laws and regulations to prevent poaching are essential to make conservation areas effective.<ref name=gutierrez>Template:Cite journal</ref>
To estimate population sizes within specific areas and to keep track of individual jaguars, camera trapping and wildlife tracking telemetry are widely used, and feces are sought out with the help of detection dogs to study jaguar health and diet.<ref name=soisalo>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=furtado>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Current conservation efforts often focus on educating ranch owners and promoting ecotourism.<ref name=WWF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ecotourism setups are being used to generate public interest in charismatic animals such as the jaguar while at the same time generating revenue that can be used in conservation efforts. A key concern in jaguar ecotourism is the considerable habitat space the species requires. If ecotourism is used to aid in jaguar conservation, some considerations need to be made as to how existing ecosystems will be kept intact, or how new ecosystems will be put into place that are large enough to support a growing jaguar population.<ref name=mossaz>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Conservationists and professionals in Mexico and the United States have established the Template:Cvt Northern Jaguar Reserve in northern Mexico. Advocacy for reintroduction of the jaguar to its former range in Arizona and New Mexico have been supported by documentation of natural migrations by individual jaguars into the southern reaches of both states, the recency of extirpation from those regions by human action, and supportive arguments pertaining to biodiversity, ecological, human, and practical considerations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In culture and mythologyEdit
Template:Multiple image Template:Further In the pre-Columbian Americas, the jaguar was a symbol of power and strength. In the Andes, a jaguar cult disseminated by the early Chavín culture became accepted over most of today's Peru by 900 BC.<ref name="b1">Template:Cite book</ref> The later Moche culture in northern Peru used the jaguar as a symbol of power in many of their ceramics.<ref name="r41">Template:Cite book</ref> In the Muisca religion in Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the jaguar was considered a sacred animal, and people dressed in jaguar skins during religious rituals.<ref name="Ocampo_p231">Template:Cite book</ref> The skins were traded with peoples in the nearby Orinoquía Region.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> The name of the Muisca ruler Nemequene was derived from the Chibcha words nymy and quyne, meaning "force of the jaguar".<ref name="nymy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="quyne">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sculptures with "Olmec were-jaguar" motifs were found on the Yucatán Peninsula in Veracruz and Tabasco; they show stylized jaguars with half-human faces.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the later Maya civilization, the jaguar was known as balam or bolom' in many of the Mayan languages, and was used to symbolize warriors and the elite class for being brave, fierce and strong.<ref name=Saunders/> The cat was associated with the underworld and its image was used to decorate tombs and grave-good vessels.<ref name=Benson/>
The Aztec civilization called the jaguar ocelotl and considered it to be the king of the animals. It was believed to be fierce and courageous, but also wise, dignified and careful. The military had two classes of warriors, the ocelotl or jaguar warriors and the cuauhtli or eagle warriors and each dressed like their representative animal. In addition, members of the royal class would decorate in jaguar skins. The jaguar was considered to be the totem animal of the powerful deities Tezcatlipoca<ref name=Saunders>Template:Cite journal</ref> and Tepeyollotl.<ref name=Benson>Template:Cite book</ref>
A conch shell gorget depicting a jaguar was found in a burial mound in Benton County, Missouri. The gorget shows evenly-engraved lines and measures Template:Cvt.<ref name=Daggett/> Rock drawings made by the Hopi, Anasazi and Pueblo all over the desert and chaparral regions of the American Southwest show an explicitly spotted cat, presumably a jaguar, as it is drawn much larger than an ocelot.<ref name=Pavlik />
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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