Are jaguars and jaguars two kinds of animals?

We often hear people ask Jaguar or Jaguar who is better in the discussion of some big cats. From this point of view, it is obvious that many people regard them as two species, although from the name, one is? Tiger? , one is? Leopard? It really looks like two different animals, but in fact it's just two different names of the same animal.

Because this animal has fur like a leopard, but its shape is closer to that of a tiger, South Americans have never seen a tiger leopard, so they call this cat a jaguar or a jaguar.

jaguar

There is still a misunderstanding about Jaguar in reality. Many people think puma is another name for it. Actually, this is not right. Pumas are different from leopards. It is indeed another kind of animal, belonging to the largest species of cats and the only species of cougars.

Jaguar belongs to Panthera, a subfamily of cats, and ranks the third among cats (except for artificial products such as tiger and leopard), and its ferocity is no less than that of tiger and leopard.

Many friends who like cats but are not familiar with cats in modern cats may often confuse tigers, leopards, cougars and lions, so it is necessary to explain modern cats as a whole.

Modern cats can be divided into two subfamilies, namely, Leopard subfamily and Cat subfamily. By the way, the traditional classification of cheetah subfamily has been abolished, and it belongs to feline subfamily, in which leopard subfamily is divided into two genera, and feline subfamily has 12 genera, among which tiger, leopard, jaguar and lion all belong to feline subfamily, while puma belongs to feline subfamily.

Among wild cats, except lions live in groups, other cats are basically solitary, but there are some differences in shape. For example, pumas and cheetahs are docile, and they can often hunt together and share food, especially cheetahs. You can often see two or three cheetahs hunting together on the African savannah.

The whole cat in nature almost occupies the land of carnivores? Half the country? In particular, several species of leopards are kings in their respective living areas.

Jaguar (leopard) is not a real tiger (leopard). The name of jaguar is easy to misunderstand. From this name, people will mistakenly think that it is a tiger subspecies living in the American continent, but in fact it has little to do with tigers, but its size is relatively close.

Including extinction, there are nine subspecies of modern tigers in the world, namely Northeast Tiger, South China Tiger, Bengal Tiger, Sumatra Tiger, Malay Tiger, Indian China Tiger, Lihai Tiger (extinct), Bali Tiger (extinct) and Java Tiger (extinct), and there is no place for jaguar. Moreover, tigers are a specialty of Asia, and there are no tigers in Africa or North and South America.

Tiger and leopard? domestic

If you look at the name of jaguar, you will think it is a kind of leopard. In addition, compared with tigers, jaguars are more likely to be confused in appearance, because the background colors are roughly the same and there are leopard prints. If you don't distinguish it carefully, it will really make people think it is a kind of leopard.

In real life, there is only one kind of leopard in the strict sense, that is, the leopard species in the genus Panthera, and only nine subspecies can be called true leopards. Jaguar, cheetah, clouded leopard, etc. Not a leopard.

Jaguar is the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere, ranking third among cats. Its main living areas are Central and South America, extending from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, and most of them live in the Amazon forest.

Compared with the historical distribution area, the habitat of jaguar has been greatly reduced, and there are few left in Central America. The living conditions in South America are not optimistic, and they have become extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.

According to the data obtained from the jaguar habitat assessment in 2002, 70% of jaguars in the world have a high survival probability, 18% has a medium survival probability, and 12% has a low survival probability.

Jaguar distribution map

In Central and South America, 27 studies from 2000 to 20 10 showed that the density of jaguars was estimated to be 0.74- 1 1.2 per 100 square kilometer. Of course, this value is an average and cannot be completely accurate. For example, in some national parks or protected areas, the density is much higher. For example:

In 2004, the investigation and evaluation of the Selva Maya Rainforest in Belize showed that the density here was 100 square kilometers, including 7.5-8.8 leopards; In 2004, a survey of the Bolivian Amazon estimated that the density of local jaguars was 2.8 per 100 km2. In 2004, the density of dry land forest and dwarf forest in Tinga, Basica was 3.5/100 km2, the density of Atlantic forest was 2.2/100 km2, and the density of tropical savanna in Serrado was 2/100 km2. In 2004, a survey of the Grand Chaco Plain in Bolivia showed that the density of jaguars here was 2.2-5 per 65,438+000 square kilometers. In 2006, the research team estimated that the density of leopards in Pantanal wetland in Brazil was 6.6-6.7 per 100 square kilometer by means of infrared camera and telemetry. In 2008, the density of Amacagagu National Park in the Amazon forest of Colombia was 4.5 jaguars per 100 square kilometers, while the density of unprotected areas was 2.5 jaguars per 100 square kilometers. In 20 10, the density of jaguars in Carques Bole basin wildlife reserve was 3.5-1/kloc-0 per square kilometer. Jaguar in the jungle

Due to the influence of animal husbandry and other factors, the jaguar population density in Brazil and parts of northern Argentina is low. As can be seen from the above data, before 20 10, many surveys overestimated the density of unknown areas and were too optimistic about Jaguar's living conditions. According to the data of 20 17, the research team identified 34 jaguar subpopulations, of which 25 subpopulations met the criteria of critically endangered or endangered species, accounting for 97%, and estimated the total number of the entire Amazon subpopulation.

Generally speaking, the number of jaguars is decreasing rapidly. Compared with the historical living area, jaguar only lives in the original range of 565,438+0%.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, jaguars have been hunted in large numbers. In the 1960s, more than 654.38+500,000 jaguars were hunted in the Amazon region of Brazil every year.

By the early 1970s, American tiger skin trade also reached its peak. In the year of 1967 alone, the number of American tiger skins in international trade reached as high as 13000, and this phenomenon did not decrease until 1976.

Generally speaking, large carnivores will conflict with humans more or less, but it turns out that jaguars rarely attack humans and kill livestock. As long as there are enough prey, they will stay away from people's living areas.

In Africa and Asia, animal attacks on humans occur from time to time, but in Europe and America, such incidents rarely occur, usually in circuses or zoos. For jaguars, only when humans deliberately destroy or occupy their habitats will they fight back. In addition, with the rise of ecotourism and the deliberate feeding of jaguar food, their fear of human beings has decreased a lot, which will increase the probability of jaguar attacking human beings.

In 20 15, a 3-year-old Indian girl was attacked by a jaguar in the forest of Guyana. At that time, the little girl and her mother were washing clothes in the river when a jaguar stared at her. Then she bit the little girl directly and dragged her into the jungle. Fortunately, people around shouted, and the jaguar got off the little girl and ran away.

Because jaguars do much less harm to people than other carnivores, they are rarely killed out of revenge. For their current state of life, a human tiger? Conflict is not the main threat.

? Cat all-around hand? There is a saying among jaguars that cats are the most powerful animals of the same size. There is a little truth in this statement. Cats not only have sharp teeth and claws, but also have excellent physical strength and agility. What I want to say is that jaguar is the best among cats. Jaguar knows almost all the skills that cats have, such as swimming, climbing trees, jumping and so on. It is very good at it, and these skills also give jaguar superb hunting skills.

jaguar

According to different geographical distribution, jaguars can be divided into nine subspecies, namely, named subspecies, Arizona subspecies, Central American subspecies, Golden subspecies, Hernandez subspecies, Pantana subspecies, Paraguay subspecies, Peru subspecies and Veracruz subspecies, but these subspecies are not recognized by the Cat Expert Group of IUCN. They think that all jaguars are actually subspecies, but their geographical distribution is different.

Due to different geographical distribution, the weight of jaguars varies greatly. For example, the average weight of jaguars in Chamela-Khimara Biosphere Reserve is about 50 kg, while the average weight of jaguars in South America such as Brazil and Venezuela is 95 kg, with females ranging from 56 to 78 kg. There are many reasons for this difference, which are closely related to the local climate and food sources. The general trend is to extend southward.

Black jaguar

Jaguar looks beautiful, with the posture of a tiger and the beautiful appearance of a leopard. Its head is big, its cheeks are wide, its body muscle lines are obvious, its limbs are short and thick, its tail is much shorter than that of a tiger, its background color is golden yellow or orange, and it has beautiful patterns on it, which looks like a leopard from a distance. In addition, jaguars have black varieties, also known as panthers, which need to be clarified with the black varieties of leopards.

Jaguars mainly live in the American continent, mainly distributed in South America, with specific countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Guyana and Bolivia. The most important habitat is the Amazon basin, because there is a large area of virgin forest and few people are there, so jaguars live well here.

They like living near the water source, and they like swimming very much. Especially in hot summer, jaguars will stay in the water for a long time, playing or hunting.

Jaguar kills crocodile.

Jaguar is an opportunist, and its food is as high as 87 kinds, among which capybara and giant anteater are the favorite of jaguar, and most of its food sources are these two kinds. Unlike other carnivores, jaguars don't seem to like cloven-hoofed animals very much. In addition, jaguars don't like some primates, opossums and other animals very much, but not liking them doesn't mean not eating them. Jaguars sometimes prey on human livestock.

Another commendable thing about jaguars is that they often kill some crocodiles as their own? Dinner? .

Jaguar preys on capybara.

Jaguar's predation skills are quite excellent. Generally, it lurks like a tiger, waiting for its prey to approach or take the initiative to approach slowly. When the distance is right, it will jump out and bite its prey's throat until it suffocates.

Sure, are you talking about jaguars? Universal hand? So its skill is not limited to this, in fact, Jaguar will use the typical practice of cats? Bite your neck? In addition, when it preys on animals such as capybara, it will directly bite through the animal's brain with canine teeth, resulting in the direct death of its prey.

This way seems to be the deformation of opening a turtle shell. After all, since the late Pleistocene, a large number of shelled turtles and reptiles have provided jaguars with a large number of food sources, and this skill may have developed at this time.

The difference between jaguar, leopard and cheetah may be that many people don't know the difference between jaguar, leopard and cheetah. Let's take a good look today. Hey? These three animals are very chaotic in appearance. Maybe cheetahs are easier to distinguish. They are slim and have eyes. Tears? And what is the difference between leopards and leopards? Real kung fu? Yes In fact, as long as you have the necessary knowledge, you can distinguish them well.

Leopard, cheetah, leopard distribution map

The distribution area is different. Jaguars are only distributed in Central and South America, but nowhere else in the world. Most cheetahs are distributed in Africa, with a high density in the south and a small number in Asia. Leopard is distributed in most scattered areas of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Geographically speaking, the leopard does not overlap with the other two, and the distribution areas of the leopard and the cheetah overlap less, so the species we see in the wild in America must be the leopard.

Leopards, cheetahs and leopards

With different body types, leopards weigh between 37-90kg for males and 28-60kg for females, with an average weight of about 40kg, which is considered as a relatively small species among leopards. Jaguars weigh between 56 and 96 kilograms, which is larger than jaguars on the whole. Cheetah is the smallest of the three, weighing in the range of 2 1-72kg. It is slim and can be seen without looking carefully.

Details that distinguish jaguars, leopards and cheetahs

There are obvious differences in appearance. Cheetahs have two long black lines from the inner corner of their eyes to their mouths? Tears? This is its most typical symbol, neither jaguar nor jaguar has it; The background color of a leopard is pale yellow to deep gold, and its spots are symmetrical and beautiful as roses. The background color of the leopard is golden yellow or orange, and the spots are more irregular than the leopard pattern, but? Roses? There are small spots in the spots, which is the obvious difference between it and the leopard. In addition, leopards look more like muscular men, while leopards are much rounder and more pleasing to the eye.

The threat to the jaguar. Although 70% jaguars are considered to have a good chance of survival, this does not mean that they are not threatened. In fact, jaguars are threatened in many ways, among which the most important reasons are natural disasters and human activities.

The hunted jaguar

Natural disasters, everyone may be concerned about a news recently, that is, the Amazon forest fire in South America. What I want to say here is that the most direct victims of forest fires are the animals inside. Under the heavy artillery fire, no animal was spared, and jaguar was one of them. Of course, in addition to mountain fires, floods, mudslides, etc. are all natural factors that threaten the survival of jaguars. Due to natural factors and human exploitation of energy, construction of infrastructure such as water conservancy, housing and commercialization, development of agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, environmental pollution, etc., the habitat is shrinking. The habitat of jaguar is gradually decreasing. Once the living space of animals is compressed, the population will inevitably decrease, and the direct consequence of this phenomenon will also directly lead to the conflict between animals and humans. Man-made invasion and interference, if human beings want to develop, they must constantly absorb natural resources. In the areas where jaguars live, especially in some dry lands, human activities have a great influence on them. In addition to the indirect impact of animal husbandry and other operations, the most direct interference is the killing of jaguars. Because jaguars prey on livestock and affect the interests of pastures, some ranchers will take the initiative to kill jaguars. In addition, profitable items such as tiger skins have attracted a large number of hunters to see jaguars. Practice and significance of protecting jaguars Because jaguars are widely distributed, spanning 18 countries, it is very difficult and complicated to protect this animal. After all, every country has its own policies and regulations. The most important method is to determine the most endangered area of jaguar and then implement the protection plan. To sum up, there are two ways.

Landscape of wildlife reserve in Jiguanhua basin

It is the most direct and effective way to set up a protected area or a national park according to the leopard's habitat, because once a protected area is set up, it means that the jurisdiction will be strengthened, and whether it is destroying the environment or poaching, it will be well improved, so the leopard and other animals living here can live without human intervention.

For example, the first jaguar reserve established by Belize 1986 and the Jiguanhua Basin Wildlife Reserve have played a very good role in protection.

Publicity and education, the importance of education, I think everyone knows that the most direct unnatural death factor of jaguar is human killing, is it for profit? Kill the tiger and take the skin? , or other reasons to kill jaguar, the most fundamental reason is that people have not realized the importance of jaguar, and this situation can be improved after strengthening publicity and education to raise people's awareness of protection.

For example, China has done a very good job in publicizing and educating the protection of snow leopards, which is one of the best in the world.

jaguar

As a predator standing at the top of the food chain, jaguar is a key species to control the population level of herbivores and some carnivores and maintain the structural integrity of forest system, and plays an irreplaceable role in local ecology.

Once the number of leopards decreases or disappears, the entire local ecosystem will change and even collapse. The most direct consequence is that the number of medium-sized predators and prey will increase in a short time, but then it will decrease or even become extinct. Therefore, the role of jaguar in the ecological environment is self-evident, and protecting jaguar is not only beneficial to ecology, but also of great significance to protecting species diversity.