WHAT DO JAGUARS EAT?

Although jaguars are good climbers, they hunt mainly on the ground at night. They will however, climb trees in order to lie and wait for prey.

The jaguar can over short distances rapidly, but it will tire quickly. Therefore its successful kills rely on both surprise and getting sufficiently close to unsuspecting prey.

Its main food consists of forest animals – varying in size from mice to deer. However the jaguar is also an excellent swimmer, able to catch frogs, fish, turtles and even small alligators!

The jaguar is especially skilled at catching fish, which it achieves by lying motionless on a rock or overhanging branch, then flipping the fish out on the bank with its paw.

Jaguars will also take domestic animals – particularly where the forest has been cleared for farmland.

After the kill, jaguars will drag their pray into cover before eating it, often burying part of the carcass to finish it off later.

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