the jaguar
SPOTTY
In the heart of South America, there's a place where it's hard to tell where the land ends and the water begins. It is the Pantanal, the world's largest flooded plain. This place is ruled by the most clever of all animals. A big cat, covered in spots, with expressive yellow-green eyes for watching everything carefully, and sharp teeth to show who's in charge. This is the jaguar, and this story is about him.
Well, maybe this particular jaguar isn't quite the most fierce of jaguars just yet. Spotty is young, still small, and has paws that are far too big, he's always tripping over them. Until yesterday, he lived with his mother, who helped him find food and shelter. But now he’s old enough to manage on his own: it is time to conquer his own territory.
Spotty isn't sure where to begin, but he'd always heard that jaguars are the smartest animals in the Pantanal, so it can't be all that hard. The day didn't start easy, though. On his morning walk, he spots a caiman (it’s a cousin of crocodiles) sunbathing.
He decides to scare the caiman to show this is his territory now. Beyond the river, where the caiman lay, rose a small hill covered in rocks. Spotty climbs up slowly, paw by paw, prepares for the big leap, and… OOPS! His back paw slips on a rock, and he tumbles down the hill. The caiman didn't even notice, and Spotty figures he'd better take off while his dignity is still intact.
As he walks away, he hears his belly growl: breakfast time. He decides to climb a tree to get a better look. Jaguars are wonderful climbers; their sharp claws work like hooks to grip the tree trunk. Spotty picks the tallest tree and climbs with confidence, reaches one branch, then another, and another, until OOPS! The next branch was soft and slippery. It wasn't a branch, it was A SNAKE.
The snake raises its head, annoyed, and lets out a low hiss that Spotty understands well: GO AWAY! Spotty plummets to the ground. He sighs. This wasn't what he'd been expecting from his day, he had woken up ready to conquer a territory of his own. Now he was starting to wonder whether jaguars are really all that fierce.
He gets up, determined to cross the river and hunt on the other side; after all, jaguars are excellent swimmers too. He steps into the pleasantly warm water, ready to swim. Everything was going well, until its paw got stuck in a vine. Trying to break free, he thrashes about fiercely, water dancing in every direction, even up his nose. He gives a tug and the vine finally comes loose. He climbs out of the river, coughing, ears flattened, looking like a soggy little kitten.
Spotty shakes himself, flinging the water from his fur as he tries to recompose. He looks down and sees his face reflected in the water. And in that moment he remembers his mother's most precious advice: a jaguar's greatest quality isn't strength, or speed, or sharp hearing, or a keen sense of smell, even though a jaguar has all of those. A jaguar's greatest quality is being clever. So Spotty goes very still, more still than he'd ever been before. He waits, and waits, eyes fixed on the water, until a fish swims by. With one quick, if slightly clumsy, movement, he manages to catch his meal. Then off Spotty goes with the fish held firmly in his mouth, proud as could be, like someone carrying a trophy, in search of a place to call his own. He finds a cozy den among the roots of the trees along the riverbank. It wasn't the grand territory of his dreams, and it wasn't the feast he'd wanted either, but for today it is enough.
And as the sun set over the Pantanal, Spotty closes his eyes, ready to rest after a long day. One day he would be the fierce, agile jaguar he knew he could become, but that was a problem for tomorrow. For now, he was going to enjoy the day's victory: the meal he had hunted himself, and the shelter he had found on his own.
Now, you might be wondering… Why is the jaguar all by himself, still so young?
Jaguars are solitary animals most of the time; they like to hunt by themselves and have their own territory. Cubs learn everything they need from their mother, and when they’re between one and two years old, she sends them off to find a territory of their own. Living alone is the first step to becoming a strong, clever grown-up jaguar.
WHO IS THE JAGUAR It is the biggest cat in the Americas. You can recognize it by its golden fur covered in dark spots called rosettes. At first sight, it looks like a twin of the leopard, but the jaguar’s rosettes are bigger and usually have a small dot inside them.
WHERE IT LIVES: Jaguars live only in the Americas. They like warm, watery places like the Amazon and the Pantanal.
ITS SIZE: It is the third biggest cat in the world, after the tiger and the lion. Its body can reach about 180cm long, plus a tail of up to 75cm! Males are the biggest; they can weigh up to 100 kilos, and females are a bit smaller.
WHAT IT EATS: The jaguar is a meat-eater and a clever hunter. It catches fish, caimans, capybaras, deer… it can even crack open a turtle’s shell!
THE FAMILY: The mother has one to four cubs at a time and raises them all by herself; the father doesn’t help out. When the cubs grow, they head off to live alone.
ITS SUPERPOWER: The jaguar is full of superpowers! It has the most powerful bite of any big cat, it’s a great swimmer and climber, and it can stay perfectly still for hours, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
HOW LONG IT LIVES? About 12 to 15 years in the wild, and can reach over 20 years in a zoo.
IS IT IN DANGER? Not yet, but jaguars are losing their homes as forests disappear. Luckily, many people are working to protect them.
IF YOU EVER MEET ONE: Try to stay calm and keep your distance out of respect. They’d rather run and hide than attack.
A FUN FACT: Some jaguars are born completely black! They still have their rosettes, but the spots are hard to see, hidden in the dark fur. People call them “black panthers,” but they’re really just black jaguars.
SOURCES: WWF - Jaguars National Geographic - What is a Black Panther National Geographic - Jaguar vs Croc Documentary
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Facts about the jaguar