Jaguar population continues to decline and suffer as a direct result of human impact. As seen in several instances, the removal of just one species can cause the entire ecosystem to change rapidly or deplete within years. Jaguars are the top predators in their environment, so they play an important role in controlling the populations of other species. This helps keep a balance in the food chain, and a healthy environment. Since their forest homes have continued to be destroyed, jaguar populations now occupy only a small fraction of their original territory, and are so exclusive that we cannot even determine how many are left in the wild. As the cause for this issue, it is our job that we protect and conserve designated habitat patches and corridors so that jaguars may be allowed space and ability to survive and grow. Providing protection for the connectivity between different landscapes will allow the jaguars to be able to expand their population gene pool, which will then in turn create a healthier, more stable population. The corridors would also allow for jaguars to move unnoticed amongst human development while maintaining the ability to migrate and create their own territory.
Adult males reaching seven feet in length and weighing anywhere between 150 to 200 pounds. Their coats tend to be yellow with black rosettes and spots. Jaguars have no specific breeding period and will mate at anytime of the year. With a gestation of roughly 100 days, females will give birth to two to four cubs per litter. Cubs will stay with their mothers for the first two years of their lives which is the mature sexual age for females and three to four years for a male. A jaguars favorite prey is the peccary and capybara but will also hunt caiman, tapir, and fish. Deforestation in Latin America is creating a vulnerable situation for jaguars which is causing a loss of habitat and a decrease in their natural prey, thus forcing them to kill cattle. Ranchers will hunt the culprit as their form of pest management. People are also hunting their natural prey, creating competition for food. Jaguars are currently on the IUCN list of near threatened species.
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