Jaguar Cubs Born in San Diego Zoo

 Keepers at the zoo, located in Balboa Park, San Diego, are delighted about this rare occurrence.

 

[Nicole Johnston, Senior Keeper]:

"Here at the San Diego Zoo, our female jaguar just gave birth on April 26th to two cubs. We're very excited about this. We're ecstatic. We haven't had babies here in 30 years."

 

The unnamed cubs, one male and one female, currently weigh approximately five pounds, with the boy slightly larger. The young jaguars will have to grow a bit more before they are ready for the public spotlight.

 

[Nicole Johnston, Senior Keeper]: 

"So right now the jaguar babies are not visible to the public, they're inside with mom. The first step with these guys, they're growing by leaps and bounds and they're so active, is we're going to give them access in Elephant Odyssey to the front cave area, so they'll be viewable behind the glass in that cave as long as mom allows them to wander out in to that area. In the next few months we're hoping to be able to have them on the big exhibit where they're going to have all these things to play with and a pool to swim in. It's going to be pretty amazing."

 

The siblings have started to take after their parents. The male cub seems to be lackadaisical like their father, Guapo, and the female has shown the characteristic vigor of their mother, Nindiri.

 

Jaguars are an endangered species closely related to some other big cats, including leopards, tigers and lions. Native to Central and South America, their numbers are in decline, largely due to loss of their natural habitat.