Jaguar cub born at ARTIS Zoo

News ARTIS Zoo

22 October 2024

A jaguar cub was born in ARTIS Park on the night of Wednesday 16 October. Both cub and mother are doing well.

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The birth happened late at night and the mother immediately took care of her cub by licking it clean.

The last birth of jaguar cubs at ARTIS was in 2017. The 14-year-old jaguar sought out her indoor enclosure a lot in the days before and through camera footage, animal keepers were able to keep an eye on it. The cub stays close to its mother as it can barely stand on its feet now and its eyes are still closed.

Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List

The birth of this healthy cub is of great value to the European species conservation programme. Producing new cubs is essential to keep the jaguar population stable. Currently, the jaguar has ‘Near Threatened’ status on the IUCN Red List, and numbers in the wild continue to decline alarmingly.

Johan Lof, zookeeper: ‘We are extremely happy with our new ARTIS resident, who we have not yet been able to meet ourselves either, because mother is still keeping the cub for herself.’

For now, heavily dependent on mother

Like the father, the cub is black in colour. The colour arises from a dominant gene carried by the male jaguar. However, the colour does not yet say anything about the sex, which can only be determined later. At birth, a cub's eyes are closed and it has no teeth yet. Within two weeks, the eyes open, after which they start exploring more in their new environment. The teeth only begin to come through after a month and a half. The cub is expected to go outside in five to six weeks, when it will explore more on its own. For now, it stays close to its mother to grow.

Reclusive existence

The jaguar is currently listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. However, an accurate estimate of the number of jaguars in the wild is difficult to make, as these animals live a reclusive and solitary life in difficult to access areas. Moreover, their habitat is significantly threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, among other things. In Latin America, the jaguar's habitat, deforestation is a major problem. In addition, despite strict legislation, jaguars are still hunted. For example, to sell jaguar body parts or because locals fear their livestock will be attacked.

Tracking dog Betty

One of the solutions to track jaguars and other felines in the wild, in order to better map the population, is the use of tracking dogs. ARTIS is thus working with Scent Imprint Conservation Dogs and contributing to the training of tracking dog Betty. During training, the dogs learn to recognise the unique scent trails of a jaguar, even from a boat on the water. During training, they therefore use, among other things, the poop of jaguars from ARTIS. Three weeks ago, Betty travelled to Brazil with the poo of the ARTIS jaguars in her travel bag. There, she is now undergoing further training. After this final training phase, she will help researchers from the Bioventura Institute Conservation of Atlantic Forest Fauna track and protect jaguars in the wild.