Baby jaguars are big charmers at Project Survival’s Cat Haven

By Ron Orozco

The Fresno BeeJanuary 2, 2015

Project Survival's Cat Haven in Dunlap has a couple of new baby jaguars, Nacho and Libre, that are charming visitors with lots of cuteness. THEFRESNOBEE

 

If you go

• Project Survival’s Cat Haven:
  During the winter, the big-cat sanctuary in Dunlap, 38257 E. Kings Canyon Road, is open Thursdays through Mondays. Gates open at 10 a.m. Tours run throughout the day. The last tour leaves at 3 p.m.
  Details: cathaven.com or (559) 338-3216.
  

Two baby jaguars at Project Survival’s Cat Haven in eastern Fresno County are warming people’s hearts with their cuteness, as well as their names.

Nacho and Libre, both males, were born at the big-cat sanctuary on Nov. 3, each weighing a little more than a pound. Their names come from the 2006 film “Nacho Libre,” starring Jack Black. Nacho is all-black; Libre is yellow-spotted. “They were the size of a soda can,” says Wendy Debbas, president of the Project Survival Cat Conservation Group that operates Cat Haven. “People always love to see any kind of cub. ... It’s like an infant — the same cuteness a child will give you. Already they know their names, and they respond to you.”

Cat Haven in Dunlap opened in 1993 as home to several rare, endangered species of wild cats, including lions, tigers, leopards and cheetahs. Project Survival is dedicated to the preservation of the wild cats, specializing in education and engaging in both captive and range-country conservation.
Nacho and Libre are the 10th and 11th jaguars born at Cat Haven in the past four years — and the first litter since January 2014. The mother is Juanita, age 9, and the father is Butch, age 191/2, one of the oldest breeding males in the United States. All-black jaguars are more rare. Only four of the 11 born at Cat Haven have been all-black.

Baby jaguars are born with their eyelids sealed shut. After about two weeks, the cubs are able to see for the first time. After six months, the cubs’ mother teaches them how to hunt. After about their second birthday, the cubs leave their mother.

Project Survival has given away six jaguars at Cat Haven to zoos with the stipulation they must work toward helping jaguars in the wild. Dale Anderson, founder/executive director of Cat Haven, estimates the zoos have raised about $70,000 toward conservation, mainly to the workers in the field doing research.

Jaguars used to come up from northern Argentina in South America and through Central America and Mexico to California. But, Anderson says, the last jaguar in California was killed in 1860.
“It’s an American cat,” Anderson says. “That’s why I like the jaguar. It’s my favorite cat. ... The (cubs) mean a lot because it gives a vehicle or tool for people to get involved in conservation.”
Nacho and Libre are growing fast. They are up to about 12 pounds each. There is no denying their cuteness. They have fun playing with each other and exploring items in their indoor cage.

“They want to get up and play and play and play,” Anderson says. “Then, they eat and sleep.”
The cubs nurse by bottle only. Workers recently gave them meat for the first time. “We tried turkey, and both didn’t like it at all,” he says. “We don’t push their time frame. They decide it.”
On Tuesday, light snow fell in Dunlap. So workers took the cubs outdoors. “It was their first time in the snow,” Anderson says. “But these guys are kept inside. They need to stay warm.”

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