Jaguar (Panthera onca)

Since jaguars are the largest big cat in the Western Hemisphere withinin Southwest United States, Mexico and Central America, they live in the jungle. This makes them the king of the jungle. But wait…aren’t lions the king of the jungle? No, lions are the king of the Savannahs in Africa. I bet your mind is blown right now. All your life after watching “The Lion King,” I’m sad to admit that you have been raised with lies about lions being the king of the jungle. Ultimately with hands down, it is jaguars who are the king of the jungle.

At the Omaha Zoo, we have two jaguars, Manny (male) and Malcom (male). These boys are very fascinating to me. These cats tend to be very fixated on objects, especially people. I remember last summer when I was here, I used to do my runs at night and they would always be the most intrigued to greet me. Even though they come across as calm, cool and collected, they would be the last cat I would want to be inside a cage with.  Jaguars have the strongest bite PSI (per square inch) of all big cats which is 2,000 lbs/PSI. Lions can only bite around 1,100 lbs/PSI. Jaguars have amazing stalking skills. Due to their big padded paws, they are able to silence anything that they step on. This leads to the ultimate predator advantage. From there, they have a very muscular body to make large lunges and pounces onto their next prey.

Jaguars are considered to be nearly threatened on the Conservation Status spectrum. As of now, they are pretty safe from extinction, but poaching is a large reason why there is even a decline in jaguar populations. It is no wonder that poachers would want their pelage because of their beautiful patterns. Jaguars have a beautifully rusty orange color with white on the underside. In addition, they have these black dots and circles. Some of these circles however have dots within the circle. This is a helping distinguishing factor to tell the difference between jaguars and Amur leopards. In addition, jaguars are very bulky and muscular as some of the other cats such as cheetahs and leopards are very not. Since jaguars live in a warmer environment, they pelage is very sleek and smooth.

An interesting fact about jaguars is that sometimes they can have color morphism. This is when you see the typical “black panther” that is still considered a jaguar. The reason that they are still considered a jaguar is because you can still see the spots on them. The allele for this trait is dominant.

Manny