Jaguar

Panthera onca

### Regions

Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Panama, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize

## Habitat

### Water Area

668 m² +111 m²/ea. add'l
37 m² +19 m²/ea. add'l

### Temperature

80 m² +12 m²/ea. add'l
8‒42 ℃

## Social

### Fem. Bachelor

1‒2 (up to 1 male, up to 1 female)
1
1

### Sterility

3 years
Death

### Interbirth

3 months
24 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Mammalia
Carnivora

### Genus

Felidae
Panthera

The **Jaguar** (*Panthera onca*) is a large American feline featured in the South America Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population in the Wild:** 64,000

The jaguar (or Panthera onca) is a species of big cat that lives throughout South America, Central America and Mexico, with rare individual sightings in southern USA. Although they can live in multiple environment types, they prefer to be in dense forests, near swamps and rivers. They are stockily built compared to the other big cat species, weighing an average of between 56 and 96kg, and measuring 112 to 185cm long. They have yellow to orange fur with black rosette patterning, and a white underside.

Although the species is not endangered, their numbers are decreasing and they are near threatened. This is due to habitat loss caused by deforestation, as well as conflicts with ranchers caused by the jaguars' killing of livestock. Some demand for their pelts and their body parts also remains - the latter of which are used in traditional medicine - however this has decreased significantly in recent decades. To help conserve the natural jaguar population, many areas in which they live have been declared protected.

### Social

Jaguars are solitary animals and live alone, except for a mother with her cubs.

### Reproduction

When a female jaguar is in oestrus, she will range outside her territory, marking trees and vocalizing. A male will track her by scent, approaching with caution when he encounters her as females are often very aggressive towards males, attacking them as they come near. If the male manages to get close, he will mate with her, remaining close by for 2 to 3 days afterwards and mating with her several times until she will no longer allow him to. After this, he leaves. Following a gestation of approximately 3 months, the mother will give birth to between 1 and 4 cubs, which begin to eat solid food at 1 month old and will be fully weaned at 3 months. The cubs will remain in a hidden den for the first 6 months of their lives and will then begin venturing out with their mother on hunting trips, during which she will teach them how to catch prey. Cubs stay with their mother until they are between 1 and 2 years old, at which point they will leave to establish their own territory. Females reach sexual maturity at 2, and males between 2 and 3 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Rotation Line Feeder · Pinata Enrichment · Frozen Blood Pumpkin · Block of Frozen Fish · Underwater Fish Feeder
Block of Ice · Cardboard Box · Climbing Frame · Firehose Ball · Gift Box · Prey-Scented Sack · Rubbing Pad · Scratching Post · Sprinkler · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree · Rubbing Pad Bark · Submarine Buoy

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* Jaguars are good swimmers, often chasing and catching prey in water.
* Female jaguars with cubs will be especially aggressive towards male jaguars to protect their young.
* The animals known as 'black panthers' are actually jaguars with a rare color morph.
* Jaguars have an extremely strong bite that enables them to crush turtle shells. Relative to their body size, they have the strongest bite of all felids (alongside the clouded leopard).
* Jaguars will often drag their kill into trees to eat undisturbed. They also often sleep in trees.

### Other Trivia

* The Jaguar is the first cat to be added in a DLC.
* **Jaguars** got the ability to "Deep Dive" in Update 1.7.