Jaguars are the largest of South America’s big cats and the third-largest cats in the world. The third biggest in the world after tigers and lions. They look a lot like leopards, which live in Africa and Asia, but jaguars’ spots are more complex and often have a dot in the center.
These powerful cats were worshiped as gods in many ancient South American cultures, and representations of the jaguar show up in the art and archaeology of pre-Columbian cultures across the jaguar’s range. The word ‘jaguar’ comes from the indigenous word ‘jaguar’, which means ‘he who kills with one leap’.
Size – Head and body, five to six feet; tail, 27.5 to 36 inches and weight:100 to 250 pounds.