What's the difference between a jaguar (panthera onca) and a leopard? The easiest way to distinguish them would be to look at their rosettes. The jaguar has larger and less rosettes than the leopard. It is also larger and has a square face in comparison with the leopard... Besides the tiger, it is one of the few cats that enjoy swimming. From wikipedia: They are considered an umbrella species and apex predator. An umbrella species is defined as: species that generally cover large areas in their daily or seasonal movements. They serve as "mobile links" at the landscape scale, through predation, seed dispersal or pollination. Protecting enough habitat and connectivity to assure viable population of these organisms benefits many other species more restricted in their range (source).
Their range is from Mexico to South America and are even spotted in Arizona and New Mexico (see image).
Range map: Original range of panthera onca. Made starting with Brion VIBBER's maps based on [1], licensed under Attribution ShareAlike license versions 2.5
![[1]](http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/agarman/map-jagu.gif){kind=link}
Keywords: white
Which zoos have them?
Artis (Netherlands), Dublin Zoo (Ireland), Edinburgh Zoo (United Kingdom), Los Angeles Zoo (United States) and Saint Louis Zoological Park (United States)The Jaguar is listed as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Countries
Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, United States, Uruguay and VenezuelaJaguar habitats
Dry savanna, Forest, Grassland, Savanna, Subtropical / Tropical Dry forest, Subtropical / Tropical Dry Grassland and Temperate forestSome facts about the
Jaguar
Adult weight : 81.15 kg (178.53 lbs)
Maximum longevity : 28 years
Female maturity :730 days
Male maturity : 730 days
Gestation : 99 days
Weaning : 126 days
Litter size : 2
Litters per year : 1
Interval between litters : 365 days
Weight at birth : 0.82 kg (1.804 lbs)
Weight at weaning : 5.034 kg (11.0748 lbs)
Basal metabolic rate : 62 W
Body mass : 50.4 kg (110.88 lbs)
Temperature : 36.85 °C (98.33 °F)
