The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, England, announced the arrival of a new born rare black female jaguar at their sanctuary. The new born looks absolutely stunning and she is the newest member of the feline family in the sanctuary.
The jaguar cub was born to mother jaguar named Keira and father jaguar named Neron in Smarden, Kent. The cub’s mother, Keira was born at the Paradise Wildlife Park in the year 2017 and was relocated to The Big Cat Sanctuary two years ago. The new born is its parent’s firstborn cub.
The father jaguar, Neron’s genes were examined by the scientists at the sanctuary. They found that jaguar, Neron has a black colouration gene, a characteristic that only appears in 10% of the wild jaguar population. This characteristic is referred to as “melanistic” by scientists. The new born cub has gotten the black colouration gene from her father.
According to IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of endangered animals, in the wild jaguars are classified as “near threatened”. However, it is necessary to conserve the species in the wild in order to maintain genetic diversity in the jaguars’ overall population.
While speaking to a local news agency, a curator at the Big Cat Sanctuary, Briony Smith stated that the cub was born at 11 am on Monday, April 17, 2021. Compared to the other wild cat cubs at the sanctuary, this new born jaguar cub has quickly developed. The cub was born with her eyes open and being only two weeks old, she is walking with pride. The cub is healthy and is full of energy.
The Big Cat Sanctuary posted on their official Twitter account asking their followers to suggest a name for the cub. The top three names chosen for a cub are Inka, Killari and Inti. The cub’s name will be decided on the number of votes received on social media. People have to make a donation of £5 in order to vote for the name.
People who voted for the winning name will get a chance to enter a competition and to win a free VIP tour at the Big Cat Sanctuary in England. Until the officials at the sanctuary get a name for the cub, they are referring to her as ‘Baby’.
Baby is currently kept in an enclosure to bond with her mother and she has not yet been officially introduced to the people. It is a pleasure for the staff members at the sanctuary to watch the cub grow and develop.
