Jaguar: its presence suppresses the impudence of all other animals in the forest (11 photos)

Oh, they called the wrong cat the king of beasts, the wrong one at all! People fell for the luxurious mane and harem life, so they came up with a loud nickname for lions. But a real monarch is not the one who shows off a cool hairdo and has a crowd of fans. A true king guards the land he rules. For this role, you can’t find a better animal than a jaguar. Where he disappeared, the American jungles are wasting away and dying even without human help.





King Jaguar. South American version of the cult film!

Yes, the jaguar is smaller than a lion and a tiger — its dimensions range from 60 to 120 kg. But in the New World, it remains the largest predatory cat! His royal majesty extends his mercy to two continents at once: North and South America. Yes, you can meet the king of the jungle not only in the wild wilds of the Amazon. Historically, the northernmost populations of jaguars reached the state of Texas.



In the United States, jaguars were exterminated. But now the animals are returning to their historical habitats. A tiny population of several individuals lives in the state of Arizona. The animals are closely monitored.

The jaguar does not strive to stand out with show-offs and pretentiousness. Yes, the spotted fur coat may seem vulgarly bright, but this is only in our human eyes. In the eyes of the prey, the predator remains the ghost of death: herbivores do not see the difference between orange and green - they do not have cones sensitive to red.





The jaguar does not want to stand out so much that it is often confused with another spotted cat - the leopard! This diagram clearly shows how much more powerful and developed jaguars are than their closest relatives.

There are some monarchs of the New World who do not even accept camouflage. The famous black panthers. In fact, this is not a separate species. Black cats are the same jaguars, but with a special mutation - melanism. Melanin is a pigment. It colors the fur and skin in dark colors. But animals with melanism produce more pigment than necessary, which is why not only the spots on the skin become black, but the entire fur. Melanism is a rare phenomenon among jaguars. It occurs in only 10% of all cats. But in the jungle, apparently, such a mutation is useful. In the heart of South America, black panthers make up 30% of the local population!



Melanists are not always completely black. They may have red stripes. Melanists also easily cross with spotted jaguars. The cubs of such a couple can be either standard or black.

Ecologists, unlike the public, have appreciated the jaguar. They have endowed it with three rare titles at once: the species is considered key, umbrella, and flagship at the same time!



Unlike our cats, jaguars willingly swim and even catch fish. But underwater they look truly infernal.

Scientists call key species those animals whose contribution to the stability of the ecosystem is enormous, but their numbers are small. The population of jaguars does not exceed 60,000 individuals on two continents, but they have the same impact on the jungle as several thousand species at the same time. All because they are the top predators.



Hey, serf! Put the food here!

Like all top predators, jaguars are the main regulators of the ecosystem. By thinning out the ranks of capybaras, peccaries and deer, they prevent them from depleting the vegetation. And by controlling the numbers of mid-level predators - otters, caimans and pythons, small animals have a better chance of survival. By their very existence, jaguars create conditions for the life of dozens of species of plants and small animals!



A cat brought home a caught lizard. A typical situation in summer cottages.

Their hunting tactics are universal. It works regardless of who the ruler of the jungle has decided to execute. The predator, waiting in ambush, takes the victim by surprise and overtakes it in a couple of powerful jumps. Unlike other big cats, the jaguar does not strangle the prey. It crushes its skull. The bite force of the king of the New World is the most powerful among the big cats, it is 136 atmospheres. This is 2-3 times more than that of a lion! The jaguar crunches on turtle shells like we crunch on crackers!



Akela missed. And the jaguar can miss too.

If the prey manages to avoid a fatal bite, its chances of survival are still slim. The jaguar is an excellent swimmer, deftly climbs trees and runs short distances remarkably well. Its physical abilities allow the predator to drag a carcass the size of a small cow up a tree!



The herbivore has some problems: it cannot hide in the water.

It is precisely this versatility that made it an excellent umbrella species. The jaguar is a kind of shield that protects the jungle from invading species. When large animals invade the king's domain and try to establish their own order, the king quickly puts them in their place. Animals that are not adapted to this die without having time to establish themselves in new ecosystems.



They say that the operator always stays alive. Well, let's check...

And jaguars are also incredibly beautiful. Their grace, strength and predatory grin cannot help but attract people's attention. So the cat automatically turns into a symbol for environmental protection companies. This is what makes the species a flagship. You must admit, it is much more pleasant to donate money to save a jaguar than to protect a brown beetle that only one and a half entomologists know about.



Who dares to hunt in the royal forest?!

But here an interesting nuance emerges. The kings of the jungle and the demands on the environment are royal. They want tall trees, diverse undergrowth, open water nearby and abundant fauna. To save the jaguars, you have to spend money to protect much less presentable animals and plants, without which the existence of spotted cats is impossible. So investors unwittingly invest in the protection of the entire environment.

A king cannot exist without his kingdom. Just as a kingdom prospers only under the protection of a wise king.