Research overview: captive jaguar welfare, stereotypy and stress

Jaguars are powerful, semi-aquatic, wide-ranging cats whose captive welfare has been studied through behaviour and non-invasive stress physiology. This overview surveys research on captive jaguars: the prevalence of stereotypic pacing, links between enclosure features, intrinsic factors such as sex, age, origin and rearing, and stress hormones, and the role of complexity, water access, hiding and feeding enrichment in promoting natural behaviour. It examines how wild-caught versus captive-born animals and individual temperament shape welfare outcomes, the use of faecal glucocorticoid monitoring, and enrichment trials aimed at reducing pacing and increasing activity. It discusses the species' need for both terrestrial and aquatic opportunity. The synthesis frames jaguar welfare as dependent on large, complex, water-equipped enclosures and attention to individual history and temperament.