By Yul
Working the black cat beat for Cats Working, I’ve been keeping tabs on an adorable black jaguar kitten at the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru. He was born in March, only the third one in captivity there.
But the zoo hasn’t provided any more details on their newest celebrity since mid-May. For example, nobody seems to know who the cat’s parents are, nor I could find that anyone has bothered to name him. The zoo hasn’t even added him to their Web site.
Big mistake.
He sure is photogenic, with the same rosette markings as other jaguars, only more subtle.
Check out more of his baby pics here. I’m watching the story and will let you know if I hear any developments.
4/22/09 UPDATE: This jaguar is a year old now. The last time I checked, he still wasn’t on the zoo’s Web site. I’ve written to the zoo twice, in English and in Spanish, asking them to tell me his name, but have had no response. So I guess they want him to remain anonymous.
October 24, 2008 at 7:35 am
he’ soo cute… ivenever seen an animal that is so wild lookingto tame and cute(:
October 24, 2008 at 7:59 am
Julie, since these pictures were taken, the black jaguar is probably looking a lot more formidable.
We haven’t checked recently, but months after we posted this, we still couldn’t find that he’d ever been named.
January 20, 2009 at 10:36 am
UPDATE: Since there still seems to be some interest in this cat, I have just written the zoo asking what his name is because he still doesn’t appear on their Web site, even though he’s about 10 months old now. I don’t speak Spanish, so I hope they speak some English and respond.
March 4, 2009 at 9:58 pm
he is sooooooooooooooo cute!!:)
March 5, 2009 at 8:59 am
Kayla, I wrote to the zoo weeks ago asking them to tell me if he ever got a name, but they never responded. But that could be because they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish.
March 27, 2009 at 9:09 am
Try going to http://www.google.com/translate, write your email in English, then translate it to Spanish. It might be poor Spanish, but they’ll probably get the gist of what you’re saying. Good luck!
March 27, 2009 at 9:26 am
Nicole, well DUH! Why didn’t I think of that? Excellent idea. Thank you. I will do it!
May 27, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Ok…wtf..by the way the yahoo translator is shit, trust me I tired it, and I’m from Peru, and from the capital Lima, but I came to the U.S when I was 9, I don’t think there going to answer, so leave it alone?
It’s there animal right? and as long as there is no animal cruelty.. then why are you bitching?
May 28, 2009 at 7:46 am
Evelyn, who do you think is bitching? I very politely asked the zoo if they had named the jaguar, in English and in Spanish, and received no answer. That is OK. Maybe they never named him.
If I were ever to visit Peru and had a chance to visit that zoo, I probably would not. The people who run it obviously don’t care if anyone is interested in their animals or not. I hope they are not being cruel to the animals, but that is something I will also never know.
May 28, 2009 at 4:16 pm
He’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute.
P.S. Evelyn, I’m nine I go to this website please stop using bad words.
May 28, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Welcome to Cats Working, Olivia. We didn’t realize we had such a young reader. Please pardon any bad language you may see. Sometimes it creeps in.
The black jaguar has already had his first birthday, so he must be a really big cat now. We haven’t found any recent pictures of him, but will post them if we do.
May 31, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Thanks for your reply.