Social Justice 12: Animal Ambassadors
Jaguar
Introduction
• Largest cat in South America
• Once roamed a large portion of South America and into southern tip of North America but now are only found in remote parts of South and Central America, mostly by the Amazon River basin
• Very agile – can climb and swim to hunt for their food
• They are rarely killed for their fur anymore but are mostly killed for coming to close to livestock
• Protection Status – threatened
Interaction between humans?
• Jaguars have quite a bit of interaction with humans
• Its prey includes cattle and sheep, which is one of the reasons it’s killed
• Humans are the main threat, we hunt them for game and for fur
• During the sixties and seventies especially, around 18 000 jaguars were killed every year for their coat
• Jaguars are now legally protected
• Seen as a god in some Native American cultures
• Despite all of this Jaguars rarely attack humans
Are we destroying its environment?
• They prefer living alone near wet lowland habitats, swampy savannas and tropical rain forests
• We have taken much of their habitat because of our growing population through deforestation and agriculture
• Example of this would be the growing number of cattle ranches that are displacing many jaguars but if they come near these ranches they are seen as a threat and killed
Do humans use your animal for specific purposes?
• Jaguars were poached heavily in the 20th century for their beautiful coat