About the Jaguar
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest cat in the world, after their lion and tiger cousins. Being the only living representative of the genus Panthera found in the New World, they once roamed from the southern tip of Argentina to the U.S.-Mexico border. Today they are listed as near threatened by the IUCN and large numbers on are only found in remote regions of South and Central America. The Pantanal holds the densest population of jaguars, estimating between 4,000-7,000 jaguars in the Pantanal alone.
What is a Jaguar?
Jaguar Facts
While these elusive cats once wandered throughout the Americas there is only an estimated 100,000 jaguars remaining in the world today.
Scroll to find out some fascinating feline facts...
Do the Roar!
Jaguars are are one of the four roaring cats. They roar in order to proclaim of their territory or bring together the two sexes.
About the Pantanal
The Pantanal is a mosaic of seasonally flooded wetland, grasslands, and woodlands that represents optimal jaguar habitat. In 2000, the Pantanal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being home to the world's largest freshwater wetland that is fed by tributaries of the Paraguay River. It is located mainly in western Brazil’s states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Depending on the year’s floods and droughts, it is estimated to be 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometers (54,000-75,000 square miles). It was defined by RADAMBRAZIL in 1982 to contain 12 various sub-regional ecosystems each having their own hydrological, geological, and ecological characteristics.
