Endangered species report: The jaguar Jaguars are endangered because people hunt them for their valuable fur, and sell them at extraordinarily high prices. Additionally, they are losing their forest homes due to deforestation. Description Jaguars are the most powerful and biggest wild cats in the western hemisphere. Jaguars and leopards seem alike, but Jaguars are larger. The Jaguar’s coat has different colours, but usually they are yellow-brownish with black spots, just like leopards.
Rarely, Jaguars are even white. An adult male Jaguar is usually 4 to 7 feet long, excluding the tail. Its tail is about 45-75 cm long, and it is 3 feet high at the shoulder. When full grown, it will weigh at about 300 pounds. A Jaguars forearms are heavily muscled and is useful for catching prey. The Jaguar has very loose belly skin and it allows it to be kicked by the prey with little chance of injury. Habitat
Jaguars are commonly found in America continents, but they also exist in Africa and Asia too. Before the 1900s, Jaguars also existed in Yukon, Uruguay and Iceland. Jaguars prefer wet, lowland environments, and swampy savannahs, but they’re favourite are the tropical rainforests. Jaguars prefer to live alone, and do not want any other animal visiting their territory. Enemies and Endangerment The main threat to jaguars is humans, because of their fur, which can be sold for thousands of dollars.
Farmers hunt them as well, only because the jaguars kill their cattle, and that ruins their profit. One more cause of their extinction is pollution. Pollution kills their grass, which is what they use as camouflage to hide against the poachers. Then the poachers kill them and sell their fur. Bibliography http://www. edu. pe. ca/southernkings/jaguar. htm http://www. sheppardsoftware. com/content/animals/kidscorner/endangered_animals/endangeredanimals_1. htm
