International Jaguar Day

About:

• International Jaguar Day is observed annually on November 29.
• International Jaguar Day was created to raise awareness about the increasing threats facing the jaguar and the critical conservation efforts ensuring its survival.
• It celebrates the Americas’ largest wild cat as an umbrella species for biodiversity conservation and an icon for sustainable development and the centuries-old cultural heritage of Central and South America.
• This is the third largest Cat Predator of the World and an important species of Amazon Rainforest.
• International Jaguar Day also represent the collective voice of jaguar range countries, in collaboration with national and international partners, to draw attention to the need to conserve jaguar corridors and their habitats as part of broader efforts to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Jaguars (Panthera onca):

• Jaguars (Panthera onca) are often mistaken for leopards, but can be differentiated due to the spots within the rosettes on their coats.
• While many cats avoid water, jaguars are great swimmers, and have even been known to swim the Panama Canal.

Range and habitat:

• Jaguars once roamed broadly from central Argentina all the way up to the southwestern United States.
• Since the 1880s, they’ve lost more than half their territory.
• Their main stronghold today is the Amazon Basin, though they still exist in smaller numbers through Central America as well.
• They’re typically found in tropical rainforests but also live in savannas and grasslands.

Conservation:

• Jaguars are classified as Near-threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
• The species has national protections in almost every country it’s found, and trade in its parts is banned by CITES.