Identification

Guyanese locals call this big cat ‘tiger’, which outside of its girth (after the lion and tiger, the jaguar (Panthera onca) is the third-largest feline in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere) can be identified by its tawny yellow coat and beautiful markings of black spots, or rosettes, forming broken circles around a small central spot. The only Panthera species found in the Americas, jaguars can also be differentiated from other big cats in the region by their large head, short, stocky legs, and sturdy body.

The jaguar’s rosettes – which provide excellent camouflage in the jungle – often draw comparisons to the puma, but upon close inspection those of the jaguar are seen to be larger and thicker, and also have the central spots that are not found on panthers. The rosettes on jaguars are often solid on their large head, neck, and tail and the patterns vary distinctly from animal to animal. In rare cases, some jaguars have a condition known as melanism that causes their coat to appear entirely black, but even these individuals have distinguished spots.

Average weight for jaguars is in the 120- to 210-lbs range, with the largest weighing in around 350 lbs and the smallest around 80 lbs. Body lengths range from 5-6 feet without the tail, which can add another 2 ½ feet. Jaguars stand roughly 27-30 inches tall and females are generally 10-20 percent smaller than males. Jaguars are built more for stealth and sudden capture than long-distance running.

Chances are you’ll see a jaguar before hearing one, but you may hear a roar or series of loud, chesty grunts. Adult jaguar tracks (if you ask your guide to keep a lookout on jungle trails, you’ll have good chance of seeing some in Guyana) are 120mm wide on the front paw and 95mm wide on the rear. They have four toes with rounded pads and there are no claw marks. The forepad is also wide and has a rounded top.

Behavior

Jaguars are both nocturnal and diurnal, and while mainly terrestrial, their stocky builds are perfect for climbing low trees. Jaguars also love the water, and are often spotted bathing, swimming, and playing in rivers, streams, and ponds.

Strictly carnivores, the jaguar’s size is used to take down large prey, including peccary, capybara, and deer, but jaguars are also known to hunt most anything they can catch – caiman, sloths, turtles, fish, monkeys, snakes, horses, livestock, and dogs. When hunting, jaguars are known to stalk and ambush in one pounce, often using their powerful jaws (which are believed to give the jaguar the most powerful bite amongst felines) to crush their prey’s skull in one bite (most other cats go for the neck).

Outside of mating season, the solitary creatures live and hunt alone in a large territorial range, with males covering between 20-50 miles and females between 10-40 miles. While a male jaguar may share his home turf with other families (females and cubs) he will aggressively protect his potential mates from other males. Jaguars mark their territory by scraping trees, defecating and spraying urine on vegetation and through vocalizations.

Mating season occurs year-round and females breed every two years. A female jaguar in estrus will call to males through soft grunts; males respond in more guttural grunts. Gestation lasts from 90-110 days and litter size ranges from one to four kittens but is two cubs on average. The females take care of the young alone. The cubs nurse until three to six months of age, and then stay and hunt with their mother until they are one to two years old. Jaguars have an average lifespan in the wild of 12-15 years but in captivity they have been know to live more than 20 years.

Habitat

While the jaguar used to be common from the southern United States to southern Argentina, the cat’s present range is more restricted, largely because of habitat loss. The US currently houses a small population in the southwest along the Mexico border, but the cats are listed as a federally endangered species. Larger populations of jaguars are presently found from Mexico to northern Argentina, with the highest concentration in the rainforests of the Amazon basin.

Jaguars prefer dense jungle but also live in deciduous forests, swamps, grasslands, savannahs, and mountain scrub areas. The biggest threat to jaguars is the loss of their habitat from the destruction of forests and encroachment of humans, especially from hunting and poaching by livestock ranchers.

Within Guyana

Jaguars are considered uncommon throughout their entire range. They are listed as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix I (threatened with extinction), and on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, the jaguar is Near Threatened.

In Guyana, the solitary creatures are often spotted along trails or gaps along the forest edge where roads or rivers run. Sightings are most common in the Iwokrama Forest, especially along the main roadway. Those willing to push further into the jungle via the rivers – especially along the Rewa River – are also often rewarded with jaguar sightings.

In Guyana, several communities are learning that the presence of jaguars can bring in ecotourism dollars and appreciative nature enthusiasts and work is now underway to try to determine areas where they can be spotted with some frequency. That said, seeing a jaguar in Guyana – as anywhere – is a matter of having the luck of being in the right place at the right time.