There are many incredible wildlife experiences around the world, but visitors are still amazed by Africa's wildlife. Over time, African wildlife has become one of the most important animals in the world. Africa has a wide variety of natural ecosystems, including rainforests, forests, grasslands and deserts. It is home to many beautiful and deadly animals of different sizes, including daytime and nocturnal animals, and is the second largest continent after Asia. These include mammals, reptiles, birds and insects, many of which are endemic to Africa. Due to its biodiversity, it is a popular destination for wildlife researchers and hunting enthusiasts.
It is home to about 1,100 species of animals, 60 species of carnivores, 100,000 species of insects, 3,000 species of freshwater fish and more than 2,600 species of birds. According to statistics, its insect population accounts for 15-20% of the total number of insects in the world. Africa's top wildlife is the one that people most often look for in hunting trips, many of which are native to Africa. The "Big Five" include lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffaloes, and are among the most famous animals in Africa.
The jaguar is a New World mammal of the family Cat family. Like tigers, lions and leopards in the Old World, it is one of the four "big cats" of the genus Leopard, the third largest cat after tigers and lions, and the largest and strongest cat in the Western Hemisphere.
Where do jaguars live?
The jaguar is the only species of the cat genus Leopard that still lives in the Americas. Although it looks similar to a leopard, the jaguar is larger and stronger. In terms of species, the jaguar's behavior is comparable to that of tigers. It is naturally withdrawn, a predator who waits for opportunities and sneaks to ambush. Jaguars also love to swim and prefer to live near bodies of water in the deep jungle. As a top predator, jaguars are essential for maintaining natural balance.
The historical range of activity of these highly effective predators includes much of the southern half of the United States, as well as much of South America. In the early twentieth century, jaguars ranged from the Grand Canyon north to Southern California in the west. Moreover, ice age fossil evidence indicating the existence of jaguars has been found in the US state of Missouri. The current range of jaguars extends from Mexico in North America to Central America, the Amazon Basin in Brazil, and other parts of South America.
Jaguars can be found in dense rainforests, dry grassland terrain and seasonal flood wetlands in Central and South America. However, they prefer dense forests over other types of habitats. They prefer to live near swamps, rivers and dense rainforests, which makes hunting easier. However, they also live at an altitude of about 3800 meters. At the same time, these big cats tend to avoid montane forests, not in the Andes and plateaus of central Mexico. In their range of activity, jaguars can also appear in bushes and deserts.
So, can jaguars survive in Africa?
The director would like to say that if lions, leopards and cheetahs can all thrive, why can't jaguars survive?
Jaguars can be found in deserts, swamps, rainforests, jungles, deciduous woodlands, savannas, mountains and water systems in the Americas. Superb hunting skills are necessary for predators to survive. They perform best in the jungles of Congo and Central Africa, where they can eat wild boars, deer, hoga baboons, gorillas, chimpanzees and colobus monkeys, and of course, baby elephants.
Jaguars, though top predators, don't know how to deal with hyenas or lions. Jaguars, on the other hand, are larger than leopards and will only flee hyenas when their numbers far exceed their own. They must specialize in a particular prey because they may not be able to kill large prey such as buffalo and zebras, and they must avoid the waters due to the presence of Nile crocodiles and hippos. They can live in the jungle, feed on apes, and occasionally kill beasts like gorillas, which are leopard appetizers after all. But for jaguars, the plains may be too harsh. However, they may cross with leopards to form some sort of super breed.
Only 10,000 years ago, the jaguar coexisted with the American lion, the short-faced bear, the dire wolf and the saber-toothed tiger, and survived due to its super adaptability. Jaguars can survive in Africa's diverse ecosystems, from deserts to rainforests, crawling like leopards, hunting large animals, and swimming. They hunt black caimans by biting their skulls, so they can also hunt smaller Nile crocodiles. They can kill domestic cattle, tapirs and anacondas. They use their agility to catch birds, as well as monkeys, sloths and iguanas in the trees. During the Ice Age, they could even kill giant ground sloths the size of elephants! At that time, they weighed about 150 kilograms, about the same size as lionesses and tigresses.
They hunt differently than other cats in that they like to bite into the skull of their prey and paralyze their prey with a bite force of 2000 PSI. This means that they hunt faster, quieter and more efficiently than suffocating lions or leopards. They would swoop down suddenly and take a bite at the Nile crocodile skull. At the same time, the jaguar is very strong and can carry its prey to the trees like a leopard.
In addition, as long as they learn the leopard-like way of living and do not face the lion and hyena herd directly, it is almost difficult for them to encounter obstacles. After all, in the feline gene, lions only have a deep crush on tigers, so as long as jaguars don't provoke them, they will not do the same cruel thing to jaguars as they do to kill tigers.
There are many animals in Africa, and jaguars can certainly adapt to the climate there. Some predators have evolved into nocturnal animals to avoid competition; Some hide in the mountains or forests; Some are bigger, some are faster; Some hunt in groups, some alone.
So the director concluded that the jaguar would certainly find a suitable position in Africa. Do you agree with the Director's analysis and conclusions? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.