Jungle kings: The jaguars of Guatemala

The jaguars of Guatemala hold a special place in the country’s ecology, culture and imagination, from Mayan carvings to modern efforts to preserve these beautiful animals.

Programmes to educate people and preserve the animals’ habitat have helped reduce the danger of jaguars dying out, but a lot of work still needs to be done.

Jaguars: kings of the American jungle

Jaguars are the largest native big cat of the Americas, and are the apex predator in their territories. They are strong, agile and skilled jungle hunters, able to stalk and attack prey much heavier than themselves.

For thousands of years they have played a key role in preserving environmental balance because they hunt and eat animals which might otherwise become so widespread that they destroyed the habitat.

They are known as an indicator species, because the presence of jaguars often means the rest of the ecology is likely to be well balanced.

Jaguars are similar to leopards, which are also spotted, but are larger and have a slightly different pattern of spots. The next largest wild cats in the Americas are cougars, which occasionally overlap territories with jaguars as they hunt smaller prey.

Jaguars of Guatemalan myth and legend

Archaeological research has found Olmec carvings from at least 1200 BC depicting jaguar-headed figures, while jaguars are a key feature of Mayan art found in Guatemala.

Mayan kings are often depicted wearing jaguar pelts as a symbol of their power, and the Mayan culture included several jaguar gods.

One of the oldest is known as God L, who was almost certainly the god of trade, as well as having power over wealth, war, the underworld and magic.

Other gods and goddesses had jaguar features or traits, and jaguars were believed to enable the living to communicate with the dead.

Habitats of jaguars in Guatemala

Guatemala’s wild jaguars live mainly in the northern jungles of Peten, which connects with similar habitats in northern Belize and southern Mexico.

This is a small but important part of the current range of jaguars, which are known to live as far north as Mexico and as far south as Paraguay and southern Brazil.

Guatemala’s Peten department is perfectly suited to jaguars, as it does not have any mountains, has a wide variety of different prey species and is relatively isolated from human activity.

Jaguars hunting

Jaguars are incredibly skilful hunters, able to ambush prey on land or in the water. They are known to hunt at least 87 different species, including capybara, ant eaters, boar, caimans, deer and even sea turtles.

They are considered one of the most powerful mammal carnivores, and have been recorded dragging large prey up trees to store and eat.

They will sometimes kill farm animals, including horses, cows and llamas, which can bring them into conflict with farmers. Jaguars very rarely attack humans unless provoked or injured.

Protecting jaguars

Jaguars suffered significantly from hunting until an international agreement banned or restricted such hunting in most countries in 1973. Hunting the animals is now restricted in Guatemala, but more research is needed to establish just how many jaguars still live in this part of Central America.

Farmers will sometimes kill jaguars to protect their livestock, but the main threat to these animals is now from the destruction of their habitat.

Farming and logging have stripped away and broken up the jungle habitat, but conservationists are hoping to protect and restore it to enable the jaguars to move between different areas to mate and hunt.

One of the most ambitious programmes in Guatemala is ARCAS, which is collaborating with the Jaguars Without Borders programme to conserve these beautiful animals.

The jaguars of Guatemala are an important part of an endangered population, and hopefully conservation work will ensure they remain a living part of the country’s culture.