Jaguars are carnivores, which means they eat only meat. In the wild, jaguars will use their speed and stealth to take down deer, peccary, monkeys, birds, frogs, fish, alligators and small rodents. If wild food is scarce, these large cats will also hunt domestic livestock.
As you might have guessed just by looking at their massive fangs and muscular bodies, jaguars are strict carnivores that subsist entirely on the flesh and meat of other animals. They are fast, stealthy hunters that skillfully ambush and tear apart a variety of animals, from mammals and reptiles of varying sizes to fish and even birds on occasion.
Here’s a list of the many animals jaguars commonly eat in the wild:
Deer
Snakes
Caiman
Javelinas (also known as peccaries)
Iguanas
Capybaras
Armadillos
Birds
Rabbits
Cows
Bird and reptile eggs
As a general rule, jaguars aren’t picky eaters. They will take down just about any animal weak or small enough for them to ambush and incapacitate with ease. Plus, as apex predators, they lack any predators to speak of. This means their rainforest habitats are essentially their own personal buffets!