The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. Only lions and tigers are bigger, so the jaguar is the third-largest cat in the world. Jaguars live in Central and South America.
A jaguar's coat is usually pale yellow, tan or reddish yellow, with black rosettes. Rosettes are dark spots. A jaguar's spotted coat helps it hide in forests and grasslands. Some jaguars are black. They are called melanistic jaguars.
Jaguars and leopards are two kinds of cat. Leopards live in Africa and Asia. The rosettes of a jaguar often have a spot inside. The rosettes of a leopard do not. A jaguar is more heavily built than a leopard, with a stockier body. It has a shorter, thicker tail. "Black panther" is a name for black leopards and black jaguars. It is not a separate kind of cat.
A typical adult jaguar weighs between about 100 and 250 pounds. The head and body of an adult jaguar measure up to about 6 feet, not counting the tail.
Jaguars live in tropical rainforests, and also in swamps, grasslands and dry places. Jaguars usually live near water, such as rivers and swamps. They are strong swimmers. When forests flood, jaguars swim from place to place.
Jaguars do most of their hunting at night. A jaguar hunts by sneaking close and then pouncing. Jaguars hunt on the ground, and they sometimes climb a tree to hunt. Jaguars eat many kinds of animals, such as deer.
Jaguars live alone. They mark their territory by clawing trees. A mother jaguar has one to four cubs at a time. The cubs are born with their eyes closed. The mother raises them alone. Young jaguars stay with their mother for about two years.
Jaguars once lived from the southwestern United States down to Argentina. Today they live in fewer places.
In 2018, about 173,000 jaguars were estimated to live in the wild. As of November 2026, that is the estimate.
Jaguars are a keystone species. They help keep the number of other animals in balance.
Words to know
- rosettes: dark spots
- melanistic: colored black
- territory: its own area
- keystone: very important
- pouncing: jumping at
