Moncton zoo shows off Canada's first captive-bred jaguar in 2 years
Moncton's Magnetic Hill Zoo is celebrating the success of its jaguar breeding program, with the introduction of Balky, a seven-week-old cub.
Balky is the first baby jaguar to be bred in captivity in Canada in the last two years.
Bruce Dougan, the manager of the Magnetic Hill Zoo, said the staff at the zoo are thrilled to have successfully bred Balky.
"He is very rare in this country because there is only about 13 of them, including him, in the country," Dougan said.
"So we are very happy to successfully breed these two jaguars that we have in the zoo and have Balky as a result."
Balky is the product of the only two breeding pairs of jaguars in the country and zoo officials hope he will be the first of many cubs to come out of the breeding program.
"One of the critical things with this jaguar population in this country is that we continue to breed them and have young and to continue on getting more and more jaguars," Dougan said.
"So [Balky] is going to be sent to a zoo where he will be mated up with another female and hopefully they will start to produce babies."
Balky's parents were both black jaguars, but the cub is spotted. Only six per cent of the world's jaguars are black, according to Dougan.
Balky will be heading to a zoo in Elmvale, Ont.
Before the jaguar leaves for Ontario, Balky is keeping the local zookeepers very busy.
Tiffany Bateman, a senior zookeeper in Moncton, said Balky is fed seven times a day.
The formula — which is made up of a kitten milk substitute, wet kitten food, chicken broth all mixed together — is given to the baby jaguar seven times a day.
She said the zoo staff also need to exercise the active jaguar. But Bateman said there is an important balance between exercising him enough and getting him used to playing with humans.
"Trying to just give him enough attention so he has what he needs emotionally but not going to grow up and think that he can play with humans when he is really big," she said.
As the Moncton zoo prepares to say goodbye to Balky, it is welcoming two new babies to the family — a pair of four-and-a-half-month-old cougar cubs.
The cougar cubs are slowly being introduced to their surroundings, though the public won't get to see them until the spring.
