Jaguar
Jaguar (Panthera onca) - male. Cuiaba River.
Pantanal. Largest contiguous wetland system in the world. Mato Grosso do Sul Province. BRAZIL. South America.
There is much size variation among these cats but in the Pantanal they are larger than those found in the rainforests. These are the largest of the spotted cats in the Americas. They are both diurnal and nocturnal and hunt at any time of the day. Territorial and generally solitary. They may feed on large mammals such as capybaras, peccaries and deer as well as turtles, tortoises, caiman, birds, fish and smaller mammals. They may kill livestock and do in the Pantanal which is why they are still hunted there by some ranchers.
HABITAT & RANGE: Found in a variety of habitats from rainforests to wet grasslands and arid scrub up to 2000 m in elevation. North, Central and South America. From Mexico to Argentina. Formerly in sw USA and Uruguay where now extirpated.
