Informational Essay on Black Leopards
Informational Essay on Black Leopards
In this melanistic form the cats are more difficult to separate, however the jaguars large head and stocky forelimbs are often a good way to differentiate between the two cats.
In the wild, identification would not be an issue as the cats inhabit different continents - the jaguar is the only member of the panthera family to be found in the Americas and its is by far the biggest cat on the continent. The Jaguars range, which once spanned from the southern states of the USA down to the tip of South America, now centers on the north and central parts of the South American continent. The jaguar is predominantly a forest dweller with the highest population densities centering on the lowland rain forests of the Amazon Basin - dry woodland and grassland also serve as suitable terrain, although the cat is rarely found in areas above 8000 feet.
During the peak of its decline in the sixties and seventies, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for there much sought after coat. Due to environmental pressure the fashion for animal furs has declined, but the jaguar is still hunted. Today the major threat comes from deforestation which is drastically affecting the jaguars prey base as well as fragmenting the cats population into more isolated pockets. It is estimated that there are now only around 15,000 jaguars left in the wild and conservation is centering on the establishment of protected ‘National Park’ areas which may serve to reduce the decline of the jaguars natural habitat. In Belize, the government, aided by the WWF, have set aside 150 square miles of rain forest in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Preserve, which currently provides a protected environment for around 200 jaguars, the largest concentration of the wild cats species in the world. The WWF are also providing aid to protect some of the remaining rain forests areas of South America, which provide a refuge for the majority of the remaining jaguar population .During the peak of its decline in the sixties and seventies, around 18,000 jaguars were killed every year for there much sought after coat. Due to environmental pressure the fashion for animal furs has declined, but the jaguar is still hunted. Today the major threat comes from deforestation which is drastically affecting the jaguars prey base as well as fragmenting the cats population into more isolated...