Melanie
Miller
5-6-13
Endangered Species Research Project
The Jaguar is an endangered species.
The scientific name of this animal is Panthera Onca. The Jaguar is often
mistaken for the Leopard, it is spotted and has a very massive and powerful
build. It has a noticeably larger head. The Jaguar has tan fur, with black
rings and dots. Although Jaguars that are completely black are not uncommon.
This is the largest cat in the Americas. They can grow up to three feet in
height, four feet in body length, and the tail can reach up to thirty inches.
The Jaguar is a pack animal, and they
are predators. They don’t have predators other than humans. They’re carnivores
that prey on deer, and small animals like Peccaries and otters. They’re great
swimmers and will eat fish and other marine reptiles and amphibians. They hunt
primarily at night but are active in the day time also. Although, the pattern
varies considerably with prey and abundance, activity, and local human
activity.
In North and central parts of South
America, these large cats can be found. Specifically in Arizona, California,
Central and South America, Louisiana, Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas. The Jaguar
mainly dwells in the forest and prefers lowland rain forest for its habitat.
Although they also thrive in dry woodland and grassland. It is very rare that
they are found in areas above 8,000 feet. The Amazon is a place for example.
The number of Jaguars has
declined over the last 100 years. In the
60’s and 70’s, around 18,000 Jaguars were killed for their fur. An estimate of
the current population is around 100,000 to 200,000. This is only about half of
how many were in the 1960’s. But that’s
just an estimate, conservation Biologists don’t really know how many Jaguars
there are. Their life expectancies are 11 years in the wild, and 20 years in
captivity.
Humans burning down homelands, new
cities being built, and forests and grasslands being cleared are just some
reasons for their population decline. They’re also hunted for their fur, and
farmers don’t hesitate to kill them if their cattle gets eaten. When the Jaguar
was listed as endangered in the U.S. in 1997, they three times sued the fish
and wildlife service to make a recovery plan. The, in 2010, the service
announced that they will give the Jaguar protected habitat in the U.S. as well
as develop a recovery plan. They ended up giving more than 50 million acres of
Jaguar critical habitat in the southwest. It gave them protection from any sort
of government traps, snares, and poisons.
Glenn,
C.R. Earth's Endangered
Creatures-Jaguar Facts. 2006. 26 April 2013
<http://earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?sp=679&id=11>.
Library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/jaguar/jaguar.htm
www.wildexploarations.com/jaguar/s2/s2_1.htm
