Onça-Pintada The largest feline in America
Onça Pintada
Onça-Pintada is the largest feline species that inhabits Latin America, capable of reaching a weight of up to 135 kg. It is a muscular and robust animal, possessing one of the most powerful bites among all felines worldwide. Its natural prey includes wild animals such as peccaries, capybaras, alligators, peccaries, deer, and armadillos. One remarkable characteristic of this species is the absence of typical meowing observed in many other felines. Similar to the lion, tiger, and leopard, the jaguar emits a series of extremely powerful roars, known as "esturro."
characteristics
The Onça-Pintada fur displays a golden-yellow hue with black spots concentrated on the head, neck, and limbs. On the shoulders, back, and flanks, these spots arrange themselves in rosette patterns, some of which may contain one or more black dots within.
In contrast, the Leopard (Panthera pardus), found in Asia and Africa, also features rosettes in its coat, but these do not contain black dots within them. It's important to note that occasionally, entirely black individuals can exist, a characteristic known as melanism within the same species. Even in these individuals, the spots can still be discerned when exposed to oblique light.
Distribution
Originally, the distribution of this animal ranged from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina. However, currently, it is officially extinct in the United States, extremely rare in Mexico, but can still be found in Latin America, including Brazil.
In general, their populations have been decreasing significantly in areas where they come into conflict with human activities. In Brazil, this species has practically disappeared from most of the Northeast, Southeast, and South regions of the country.
They occur in various types of habitats, ranging from forests like the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest to open environments like the Pantanal and the Cerrado. They are solitary animals and tend to be more active at dusk and during the night.
food chain
The natural prey that Onça-Pintada typically hunt includes wild animals such as peccaries, capybaras, collared peccaries, deer, and armadillos. However, when reductions in the population of these animals occur, often due to environmental changes caused by human activity, jaguars may turn to hunting domestic animals. This behavior leads to the persecution of jaguars, driven by this reason.
The Onça-Pintada is a feline that thrives in aquatic environments and is an excellent swimmer.
Image: Facebookthreat of extinction
Habitat destruction coupled with predatory hunting, primarily driven by alleged economic damage to domestic livestock, has led to a severe reduction in populations.
Image: Facebook
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