Every month, museum visitors choose the exhibit they liked the most. What they singled out for July was the Jaguar (Panthera onca).

The jaguar is the third largest species in the cat family, after the lion and the tiger. It inhabits Central and South America, and its name comes from the Indigenous word yaguara, which means "wild beast that overcomes its prey at a bound". Its bite is so powerful that it can pierce even the shell of a turtle or the skull of its prey. Unlike most other big cats, the jaguar is an excellent swimmer and can even hunt alligators with ease. Its beautiful fur, marked with distinctive rosettes, provides perfect camouflage, helping it blends into the dense vegetation.

Jaguars play a vital role in the Amazon ecosystem, but they are threatened by deforestation and illegal poaching.

1/8/2025