Jaguar
Panthera onca
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassMammalia (Mamífers)
- OrderCarnivora (Carnívors)
- FamilyFelidae (Felids)
- GenusPanthera (Roaring Cats)
- SpeciesPanthera onca (Jaguar)
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera that is native to the Americas. Its distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. With a body length of up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb), it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. The modern jaguar's ancestors probably entered the Americas from Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene via the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. The oldest jaguar fossils found in North America date to between 0.85 to 0.82 million years ago. Wikipedia →
10–20% of wildlife watchers report a Jaguar sighting in Yasuní National Park, based on 24 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Yasuní National Park
Ocelot
Leopardus pardalis
Mountain Lion
Puma concolor
Margay
Leopardus wiedii
Giant Otter
Pteronura brasiliensis
South American Coati
Nasua nasua
Kinkajou
Potos flavus
Tayra
Eira barbara
Neotropical Otter
Lontra longicaudis
Crab-eating Raccoon
Procyon cancrivorus
Bush Dog
Speothos venaticus
Short-eared Dog
Atelocynus microtis
Crab-eating Fox
Cerdocyon thous
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Jaguar in Yasuní National Park?
About 18% of wildlife watchers report a Jaguar sighting in Yasuní National Park, based on 24 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Jaguar in Yasuní National Park?
September has the highest sighting rate for Jaguar in Yasuní National Park in our monthly data.