Jaguars are sexually dimorphic primarily in body size (males larger/heavier).
Across populations, males average roughly 10–20% heavier/longer than females, though some study populations report >30% weight differences. Both sexes share the same rosette patterning; melanism affects either sex.
Head–body 112–185 cm; tail 45–75 cm; shoulder height 63–76 cm
56–96 kg
11–15 yr wild; up to 26 yr captivity
Not enough data
Not enough data
Females 24–30 mo; males ≈ 36 mo
Aseasonal in tropics; births peak March–July
1–4 cubs /event (avg 2); litters ≈ every 2 yr
Jaguars thrive in large, contiguous blocks of humid and sub-humid forest—including lowland rain forest, seasonally dry deciduous forest, gallery forest, mangroves and freshwater wetlands—where dense cover, year-round water and high prey biomass coexist. They also traverse cattle pasture mosaics if riparian corridors remain intact.
Apex carnivore / keystone predator influencing prey populations (medium–large mammals, reptiles, occasionally fish) and indirectly shaping vegetation through trophic cascades. Documented diet breadth exceeds ~85 prey taxa range-wide; in Costa Rica key wild prey include peccaries, deer, tapirs, armadillos, and when available, marine turtles on nesting beaches (notably green turtles at Tortuguero). Where wild prey depleted, livestock depredation increases, escalating human conflict.
Activity pattern: mostly crepuscular–nocturnal; peaks around dusk and dawn.
Grouping: strictly solitary except for brief courtship (≈ 3 – 12 days) and mother-cub units (stay together 18 – 24 months).
Territoriality: males defend expansive ranges (up to 400 km²) overlapping several female ranges; territory boundaries marked by scrapes, urine sprays and tree-clawing.
Communication: deep chest “roars” (saws), grunts, nose-to-nose greeting, olfactory sign-posts; long-distance contact mainly acoustic.
Special behaviours: excels at ambush predation, often performing skull-piercing bite to braincase; strong swimmer—hunts caimans, fish and turtles; occasionally caches large prey under leaf litter for later feeding.
Only Panthera species native to the Americas; third largest big cat globally (after tiger, lion).
IUCN CatSG
Defenders of Wildlife
Exceptional bite force among big cats; often kills by piercing skull or carapace—an adaptation useful for armored prey (tortoises, turtles, caimans).
IUCN CatSG
SciELO Costa Rica
Strong swimmer; frequently hunts along rivers, wetlands, and coastal beaches (famously marine turtle predation at Tortuguero).
SciELO Costa Rica
Diversidad Animal
Melanistic (“black”) jaguars are rare (<10% of individuals) but have been camera-trapped in Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains.
ticotimes.net
IUCN CatSG
Keystone / umbrella species: conserving large, connected jaguar habitat safeguards many co-occurring species.
Defenders of Wildlife
The Jaguar Project
Native
Increasing
Robust requiem shark with fusiform body and high, slightly rounded first dorsal fin whose origin lies over (or just anterior to) the free rear tip of the pectorals. Snout long, broad and rounded; eyes circular with nictitating membrane. Dorsum uniform grey‑brown, ventrum white; no prominent flank markings.
