Untitled Document
 Jaguars
are wild cats that live in South
and Central America. They are the only member of the big cat family
that live in the Americas. You can find them in rain forests, deserts and swamps. Unlike many other cats, jaguars
do not avoid water. In fact, they
are good swimmers! These cats are great tree climbers, too.
Jaguars are bigger than leopards. They are usually yellow-brown with
black spots. But they can be black with black spots, too. These beautiful
cats have long tails (about 1 meter long). They grow to be about 1.2-1.8
meters long. They also have large, powerful paws. Jaguars weigh about 57-113 kilograms.
Males are a little bigger than females.
Jaguars have a good sense of smell and hearing.
They are active during the night.
And they hunt mostly at night. Jaguars
are meat eaters. They hunt small
animals including birds and spider
monkeys. Jaguars can also eat larger animals such as deer. They can eat turtles,
frogs and eggs, too. Sometimes they eat fish that they catch in the rivers.
Jaguars live alone, except when they are breeding. Baby jaguars will
stay with their mothers until about age 3. They can live about 12-16
years.
Today, jaguars are endangered. This is because people killed so many
of them for their beautiful fur. During the 1960s and
1970s, about 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for their coat.
Sadly, jaguars are still hunted. Now there are only about 15,000 jaguars
left in the wild. |
|
|
|
