Mammals · Carnivora · Felidae

Jaguar

Panthera onca

Near Threatened

It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary

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The largest cat in the Americas, with a bite powerful enough to pierce the shell of a turtle.

Weight

56 kg – 96 kg

Size

1.7 m – 2.4 m

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

Estimated population

Some 173,000 animals across its whole range (95% confidence interval: 138,000-208,000), of which around 163,000 are in South America and 10,000 in North America; most are concentrated in the Amazon basin

RainforestCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Near Threatened Feline Rainforest Mammal

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Fun facts

It is one of the few cats that enjoys water.
Its name comes from an indigenous word meaning 'he who kills with one leap'.
It kills its prey by biting straight through the skull.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Humid tropical rainforest, swamps and dense woodland of Central and South America
Birth weight: 700 - 900 grams (some sources give ~820 g as a reference)
Size at birth: Blind at birth, with the eyes opening at around 2 weeks
Sexual maturity: Female: 2 years | Male: 3-4 years
Gestation / incubation: 91-111 days (average ~99-101 days)
Litter / clutch size: 1 to 4 young per litter (most commonly 2)
Lifespan in captivity: Documented record of 28 years in captivity

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; JungleDragon; Animal Diversity Web; SDZWA Library Fact Sheet; BioDB; Fishi-pedia; Quigley et al. 2017, IUCN Red List e.T15953A123791436: pérdida estimada del 20-25 % de individuos maduros en tres generaciones (21 años) y del 20 % del área de distribución entre 2002 y 2015 || Jędrzejewski et al. 2018; San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library