Jaguar Cub Progress

2009 Began with a roar, squeak, and yahoo with Jaguar Birth at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens!
Mom and Cub Are Doing Well

This past New Years Day, there was cause for more celebration than usual for some management and staff at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. At 8:30 p.m. on January 1, 2009, a jaguar cub was born to the Zoos four and one-half year old female jaguar named Zassi, originally from Guyana, and father, Tuco, a three and one-half year old male that came from the Houston Zoo. It was the first jaguar born in captivity nationwide in 2009, and the first born at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens since April 1981. Mother and cub are healthy and doing well together. They are being monitored by video cam in a special, private den located off exhibit.

This not only means a lot to the Zoo, but to me personally, said Delfi Messinger, Director of Animal Programs at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. In January 2006, I traveled with the Senior Veterinarian from our Zoo to Guyana in Georgetown, South Africa, where jaguars Zassi and sister Zenta were being held for us. The two were captured as cubs and raised by humans, but they had become too big and dangerous for private ownership. Because they were ineligible for release into the wild, the government chose to loan the two jaguars to our Zoo. She continued, Now, to have Zassi give birth here at our Zoo is remarkable. This cub is a symbol of what conservation is all about as it will strengthen our ongoing conservation projects in Guyana.

A big celebration is being planned for the release of mother and cub into their Range of the Jaguar exhibit in approximately eight weeks. The cubs name will be announced at the celebration also. The naming rights for any jaguars born through April 2009 at the Zoo were sold at auction at the 2006 ExZOOberation fundraiser. The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has the largest collection of jaguars in the nation, which now totals eight! All are located in the twice national award-winning Range of the Jaguar. Check this site periodically for updates on the progress of the cub and information on the celebration date and activities.
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Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• baby
• jaguar
• jacksonville
• zoo
• and
• gardens
• animal
• endangered

[odenrz]

aw its soo cute i love jaguars