Jaguarundi Research Paper

The Herpailurus yagouaroundi also known as Jaguarundi is apart of the kingdom animalia, phylum chordata, class mammalia, order carnivora, and family felidae. The Herpailurus yagouaroundi is one of the more unusual New World cat species (Jaguarundi videos, photos, and facts). It is somewhat weasel like in appearance, it is long and slender with short legs and a long flattened head, it also has a long tail. It can range in length from 28-54 inches from nose to the tip of the tail. Its coat lacks spots like other South American cats. The species occurs in a variety of colors but the two main colors are a dark morph or a red morph (Exploring Nature Educational Resource). The ones with the dark morph tend to be more brown and black in color and

Their diet varies widely and is comprised of small rodents, rabbits, armadillo, opossums, quail, wild turkey, reptiles, frogs, fish, and domestic poultry. While Jaguarundi appears to be primarily diurnal, in some regions they have been observed being more active in the early morning or evening. The Jaguarundi has been noted as a very agile hunter, in one case an individual observed one jumping 4 ½ feet to catch a dove flying in the air. They also have the ability to swim, which helps them in catching aquatic animals such as fish (Biology Department at Lamar University). Jaguarundi is considered to be a k-selected animal. It is a solitary and non-social animal with one of the largest home ranges of over 100 km2. Due to this the species has developed up to 13 distinct vocalizations used to communicate to help find a mate. The Jaguarundi has no distinct breeding season and is thought to breed all year long. Typically a female will give birth to between 1 and 4 kittens in a litter and will stay and teach the kittens how to hunt and live on their own for about 10 months (Jaguarundi: The Animal Files). The Jaguarundi is a very elusive species so it can be difficult to gage the population numbers. The population is decreasing but there are higher number than they first expected, this puts the Jaguarundi on the least concern level on the list of threatened species (Support the). The main threat against them is habitat loss by humans. Humans are destroying their natural habitat and are using it to build agricultural pastures. The Herpailurus yagouaroundi is more at the top of the food chain and has no natural predators (Jaguarundi: The Animal Files). They do often have to compete with other carnivores including margays, ocelots, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and mountain lions. They often just feed off of small game