Onça pintada
Arthur Keil da Silveira, Afonso H. Kurz e Bernardo Haag
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The scientific name is Panthera onca. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest feline in the Americas, the third largest feline in the world, behind only the tiger (Panthera tigris) and the lion (Panthera leo). It has a lot of names according to the region. Jaguars live in the forests of South and Central America. In Brazil they are found in 5 of the 6 existing biomes. Jaguars adapt to different types of ecosystems. They can occur in areas of closed forest, open fields or arid and semi-desert regions, although they prefer humid areas, with bodies of water. In Brazil, they occur in almost all biomes, except in Pampa, where they are already extinct. In the Pantanal and the Amazon, their populations are larger and more stable, due to the lower rate of human occupation and the greater preserved areas.
Little Onças borned in captivity playing.
The onça pintada is endangered here in Brazil because of the predator hunting, the degradation and the deforestation of their habitat. We can help them by stopping the deforestation of forests and try not to kill them.
The second main threat to these cats is hunting. In the past, jaguars were killed especially for the removal and sale of their skin as a decorative item. In the 1960s, about 15,000 jaguar skins were exported each year. During that period, populations declined dramatically. Although the fur trade is now banned, jaguars continue to be killed by hunters. As farmers change the environment to raise cattle or other animals and hunt wild prey species, food availability decreases.
Jaguars, in general, are animals with twilight and nocturnal habits, they are more active at dusk and dawn. Their peak of activity is usually in the late afternoon and early evening, but they remain active most of the morning, until dawn. This is not to say that they are inactive during the day. Depending on the location and type of prey they are hunting, they can hunt during the day with peace of mind.
It is a large animal and, therefore, it is considered the largest feline in the Americas and the largest carnivore in South America. According to the Jaguar Institute, its weight varies between 35 kg and 130 kg, and its length can vary from 1.7 meters to 2.4 meters. ... One of the most striking features of this animal is its fur.
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