The Jaguar's Fight Against Extinction

The Jaguar

(Panthera Onca)

Makenna Miller

Description and Ecology

According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "the jaguar is the largest felid in the New World." Now, if you are like me your first thoughts in response to this statement are, "Wow, that's crazy. What's a felid? And what exactly is considered 'the New World'." 

A felid is just a fancy word for a mammal of the cat family and the New World is generally considered to be both North and South America. 

So how big exactly is this cat? The jaguar is on average 5-8 feet from nose to the tip of the tail and weighs approximately 80 to a lofty 348 pounds (USFWS 2012).  

Jaguars' coats are usually pale yellow, tan or reddish yellow with prominent dark rosettes or blotches throughout (USFWS 2012). 

source: the big cat blog

Jaguars' lifespan ranges from 10-15 years and they may breed year round with an average of 2 cubs per litter. 

Jaguars are ambush hunters, meaning they stalk then ambush then bite their prey through the nape of their neck. Due to their oppurtunistic predating tendencies they have a large range of prey. Jaguars prey include capybaras, turtles, deer, opussum, rabbits and livestock (USFWS 2012). 

source: africawildlife.org

Geographic and Population Changes

The jaguars originally populated parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas all the way down through the Patagonia Mountains. 

source: defenders.org

Unfortunately, due to habitat loss, fragmentation, over-hunting and killings by humans to protect livestock the jaguar has seen dramatic population depletion which led to it being listed as an endangered species on July 22, 1997 (USFWS 2012). The areas in the United States that were originally habitat to the jaguar have seen dramatic population loss leaving the Sonora Mountains near Arizona to be the only location of which jaguars are currently found. 

Cause of Listing & Main Threat to Continued Existence 

The cause of the jaguar's listing remains consistent with its main threat to continued existence.

It is important to understand first that the jaguar is vulnerable to extinction due to a couple of its biological factors:

• k-selected (this essentially just means that the jaguar has small litters of cubs and is very invested in the raising of their cubs therefore it is 'quantity over quality')
• large spatial requirements (this essentially means that the jaguar is at a larger risk for having habitat destroyed or degraded as it utilizes large spaces)

source: panthera.org

With that being said, here are some reasons, regardless of jaguars' biological features, that are leading to its endangerment:

1. destruction, modification or curtailment of its habitat or range. 
2. overutilization (illegal killing) of the jaguar for commercial, recreational or scientific purposes.
3. disease or predation
4. other natural man-made factors                                

source: sciencesource.org

What this means is this:

• farmers are shooting jaguars in order to protect their livestock from becoming the prey of the jaguar
• poachers are illegally killing and selling the fur of the jaguar
• the large range of territory in which the jaguar utilizes is being destroyed for agriculture
• roads are being placed in the middle of their corridors and they are being killed by vehicles.

source: bmwdog.com

Description of Recovery Plan

Essentially, the recovery plan offered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services states that

• the quality of jaguars' habitat needs to be assessed
• studies need to be done in order to better understand the impact of highways on jaguars
• maintain and improve connectivity and movement of jaguars
• test and put in place conservation tools that:
• encourage protection of habitat
• reduce illegal killings

I am hopeful that with these changes we will see a population increase in these incredible creatures. 

To adopt a jaguar and help aid in the fight against extinction follow this link: http://www.defenders.org/jaguar