Jaguars and Leopards

I remember being fascinated and in love with Black Panthers, since being a very young girl. One of my secret dreams, was to find a baby jaguar who had fallen off a truck belonging to a travelling circus. Needless to say, my dream did not come to pass. I did learn the name jaguar comes from the Native American word yaguar, which means “he who kills with one leap.” These powerful hunters sometime climb trees to prepare ambushes and jump down on their prey. One reason for this is that despite jaguars being rapid runners they tire quickly, so rely on proximity rather than sustained speed while hunting. They also have the strongest jaw of all the big cats. Unlike their genetic family, the Jaguar kills by crushing its huge incisors through the skull of their prey. Other Big Cats kill by suffocating their prey, by crushing the wind pipe.

In our present day lexicon, we have used the term Black Panther to refer to any big cat with a condition of melanism. Technically, Black Panthers generally refer to Black Leopards, and Black Jaguars, are referred to as what they are. The discoloration of panthers from the typical spotted or striped fur is [Read more…]