The all-time most famous resident at the Belize Zoo is April the tapir. And while April's got the fame, tonight we'll introduce you to the newest resident at the zoo who could challenge her. It is a baby jaguar and he is fast becoming the zoo's most popular attraction. It is the conclusion to a story, which began with a confrontation: human versus wild animal - farmer versus jaguar. But even that rough start can have a happy ending.
Keith Swift Reporting,
They call him Junior: he's cute, cuddly, and adorable - but this isn't a cat you'd want in your home because as playful as he looks - junior is a baby jaguar. He was born in captivity 5 months ago at the Belize Zoo.
Celso Poot, Belize Zoo
"Junior was born here at the Belize Zoo."
Celso Poot is the education coordinator at the zoo.
Celso Poot,
"His mother was a problem jaguar brought to the zoo from the Springfield Community along the Hummingbird Highway and lo and behold she was pregnant. We were not aware of it. One morning when the zoo keepers went to check on her, she had two cubs in her exhibit. Unfortunately one did not make it and ever since he was a day old, the zoo keepers have been caring for him; bottle feeding him and caring for him, nurturing him, and we have Junior here five months later walking about in the exhibit and he is a hit with visitors coming to the zoo."
But it isn't cheap raising a jaguar and last week students from Galen University donated $600 to help care for Junior.
Student,
"Our teacher kind of like ran the idea and said why don't we adopt some of these animals on our own and see if the school would run with it also. And so we all decided it was a good idea and we gave our own donations and started with fundraisers and all that stuff and that's pretty much how it happened."
Keith Swift,
Why did you choose Junior?
Student,
"I think we just thought he was the cutest one out of all of them. It is a majority girl class so we thought he was so adorable so we just decided on him and he is still young and we thought starting to help from that young was also the bigger investment we could make."
And because he was born in captivity - that is where Junior will have to stay. When we visited last week we caught him devouring this bird he's eager, but the zoo says Junior wouldn't last a day out in the wild.
Celso Poot,
"Unfortunately he would not be able to make it on the own so he will be used as an educational tool for visitors and for students."
Junior's mother along with other so called "problem" jaguars are still being held at the zoo but they aren't on exhibit. Those jaguars are normally sent to other zoos around the world. Some are re-released into the wild.
