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The SelectWare System Volume 5 #4
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The SelectWare System Volume 5 #4.iso
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mammals
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jaguar
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pub5.dat
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1991-09-17
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JAGUAR
For thousands of years, the
mysterious jaguar has played an
important role in the religions of
Indians from Mexico, Central, and
South America. For some, the Jaguar
God of the Night was a ruler of the
underworld. Its spotted coat
represented the stars in the night
sky. In spite of all the stories,
though, scientists still know little
about this big cat.
The jaguar is the largest cat in
the Western Hemisphere. It prowls
many %F,10,..\g\habitat%habitats through Central and
South America. An expert swimmer,
the jaguar wades into water to catch
a fish or to chase a caiman--a small
relative of the alligator. The
jaguar also stalks %F,10,..\h\prey%prey in high
grass or bushes. There it catches
such animals as capybaras,
peccaries, deer, and tapirs. It will
also eat smaller %F,10,..\h\mammal%mammals, birds, and
iguanas.
The cat creeps close to its prey
and then swiftly pounces. It seizes
the animal with muscular forelegs
and kills it with a bite in the neck
or head. The jaguar is extremely
strong. It may drag even heavy prey
to a sheltered spot some distance
away.
The jaguar has a broad head, very
powerful jaws, large shoulders, and
sturdy legs. Its short, stiff fur is
usually golden or reddish-orange.
Rings of small black dots pattern its
coat. Because these rings are
rose-shaped, they are called
rosettes. A jaguar's rosettes often
have dark spots in the centers.
Jaguars usually weigh between 100
and 250 pounds (45-113 kg) and
measure about 6 feet (183 cm) from
head to rump. On the average, they
are smaller than lions and tigers
but larger than leopards. Scientists
group all four kinds of animals
together as big cats. Find out about
leopards, lions, and tigers under
their own headings.
All four big cats can roar, but
their roars do not sound alike. The
jaguar's roar resembles a loud
cough, repeated several times.
Jaguar hunters in Brazil imitate
this sound by grunting into a hollow
gourd. The jaguar is attracted to the
sound.
A jaguar lives alone in a %F,10,..\g\home%home
%F,10,..\h\range%range --an area it marks out for
itself. Home ranges are often large,
covering many square miles. Although
the ranges of two or more jaguars
may overlap, the cats rarely meet.
They signal their whereabouts by
scratching trees, leaving droppings,
or spraying grass with their urine.
Male and female jaguars meet
during the %F,10,..\h\mating%mating_season. About
three months after mating, a female
bears her cubs--usually two or three
in a %F,10,..\g\litter%litter. The young jaguars are
born blind and helpless. For more
than a year, they stay and hunt with
their mother. Then, gradually, they
spend more and more time on their
own. Finally, they leave their
mother's home range and find one of
their own. At about three years of
age, jaguars are fully grown.
No one knows exactly how many of
these cats still roam in the wild.
Although jaguars once lived in the
southern United States, they were
hunted to %F,10,..\g\extinct%extinction there. Farmers
and ranchers thought the cats were a
threat to livestock. Today ranchers
in South America still kill jaguars
to protect their cattle. The cats
were once hunted for their fur, but
now laws protect them in many
countries.