Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Tropical Rainforest Dome habitat
Photo: Charles J. Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Jaguar
Panthera onca
Young Explorer Notes
Three quick things to know about the Jaguar.
- Superpower
Has the strongest bite of any big cat relative to its size — strong enough to pierce the armoured shell of a turtle o…
- Home
A warm, misty dome full of rain-forest plants and sounds.
- How to help
Needs a little extra care
They are mostly okay today, but we watch them closely so they stay healthy.
Fun facts for everyone
- Has the strongest bite of any big cat relative to its size — strong enough to pierce the armoured shell of a turtle or the skull of a caiman.
- Kills by puncturing the skull between the ears, a technique unique to jaguars among the world's big cats.
- Loves water and is a powerful swimmer — often hunts caiman, fish, and capybara along Amazonian river banks.
- Each jaguar's rosette pattern is unique, like a fingerprint, with small black spots inside the rosettes that distinguish it from the leopard.
- IUCN lists the jaguar as Near Threatened with a decreasing population; only an estimated 64,000 mature individuals remain in the wild.
From the master plan
The Jaguar is the apex predator of the planned Tropical Rainforest Dome, a ghost of the canopy and rivers of the Americas. Guests glimpse the jaguar across a water feature in the rainforest’s lower-tier sanctuary, with mist and filtered light evoking a true Amazonian afternoon.
IUCN status sourced from the Jaguar (Panthera onca) assessment (Quigley et al., 2017) on the IUCN Red List — listed as Near Threatened with a continuing population decline driven by habitat loss and conflict.
Find them in
Tropical Rainforest Dome
A lush, all-weather escape into the heart of the rainforest
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