Woodland Park Zoo Press Release

What:
Animal patients at Woodland Park Zoo receive excellent medical care and this standard also applies to new arrivals. Zoo Animal Health staff will administer a full physical examination, including weight, blood work and x-rays, on a 1-year-old female jaguar. The cat arrived three weeks ago from Akron Zoo in Ohio.

The new jaguar was moved to Woodland Park under a breeding recommendation by the Species Survival Plan for the endangered jaguar. Once she reaches sexual maturity, at about 3 years old, the plan is to breed her with the zoo’s 6-year-old male jaguar that arrived last year from Bolivia.

After completing the required 30-day quarantine period at the zoo’s animal hospital, the young cat will live in the zoo’s naturalistic Jaguar Cove. She will be introduced gradually to her new surroundings; the zoo hopes to have her on public view by the end of January.
The male and female will be on exhibit on a rotational basis

Info:
Administered by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), Species Survival Plans (SSP) are cooperative breeding programs to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums. The SSP recommended the future pairing of the two jaguars to help save the cats from extinction and to enhance the captive gene pool in North America. Neither the male or female have any offspring, so the infusion of their genes will be very significant for the jaguar SSP.

Jaguars are the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere. Their range has shrunk to mere patches in Mexico and Central America. As human-imposed activities continue, such as deforestation, agriculture, human hunting of jaguar prey and human settlement, the future of jaguars is fragile. Woodland Park Zoo currently supports three field conservation projects dedicated to preserving jaguars in the wild and their native habitat.

Zoo winter hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. For admission and other information and how to become a zoo member, call 206.684.4800 or 684.4026 (TTY), or visit the zoo’s Web site at www.zoo.org.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.