This past Friday, the un-named jaguar cub was caught up for his second exam and vaccinations. He is still small enough to be captured and restrained with thick leather gloves, seen in the first photograph. Although at first he growled, hissed, and spat, within minutes he calmed down and seemed resigned to the procedure, in the middle image. (Note that his eyes are changing from baby blue to adult golden yellow.)In the bottom scene, the team, after taking blood, and giving the shots and a dewormer, is transferring the cub to a plastic dog kennel, which was then weighed. The cub now is 7 kilograms, or around 15 pounds.
The entire procedure was done quickly, so that the mother was not stressed. She had been lured to a second den with meat, and kept distracted with food for the entire procedure. Staff is now planning the steps to introduce the mother and cub to the exhibit sometime in early April. This grand event will be a treat for Jacksonville Zoo goers! At that time, his name, which was auctioned off at an ExZOOberation event, will be announced by the lucky winners.
Photos by D. Messinger
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