The jaguar is the largest cat in the neo tropics (the tropics of Central and South America), followed by the puma (felis concolor) and the ocelot (leopardus pardalis). The tiger is the largest of all felines and it shares it’s territory, Asia, with the leopard (panthera pardus) and the clouded leopard (neofelis nebulosa).
The jungle is the perfect environment for these huge carnivores. Cats, as a generalization, are ambush predators and the jungle provides an excellent environment for that skill. As well as the dense vegetation they chose to hunt in both cats have beautiful markings on their coats which is a fantastic camoflage. Powerful jaws, sharp claws and lightning reflexes all help as well to make the jaguar and the tiger top of the food chain.
So you want to see one of these beautiful creatures. Well, the jaguar is an extremely shy and elusive cat and the tiger is not an animal you just take a stroll out to see.
The chance of coming across a sighting of a jaguar on a guided tour are slim – in fact I still haven’t seen one and that’s after many years in the neo tropics. The chance of seeing a tiger are much better though. On a proper ‘elephant back’ guided tour in some of the reserves in India sightings are common.
During my times strolling down jungle tracks in Peru and Belize I have seen many footprints and the remains of many jaguar ‘meals’. I still dream of walking round a bend in a track to see a ghostly yellow and black shape move off into the greenery.
