November 29 is International Jaguar Day. This holiday was founded in 2018.
The purpose of the holiday is to draw attention to the vulnerable natural state of this predator, the largest predator in South America.
Jaguars (Latin: Panthera onca) are truly strange animals that have many unique features that are uncharacteristic of other animals. The word "jaguar" originates from the language of the Guarani Indians, who have long worshiped this animal. The cult of the jaguar flourished in other tribes. Sometimes it came to the point that newborns were tied with special boards that made them look like jaguars. In the modern world, jaguars are not worshiped and are not considered gods. But they are still considered the third largest in the world (after the lion and the tiger) and the largest representative of the feline family in the New World. This strong beast has earned a reputation as the most ferocious jungle predator because it has the most powerful jaws among large cats.
In the wild, jaguars live from Mexico to northern Argentina. In a large part of its range, this species is almost or completely extinct. The change of human habitats of jaguars, fishing for valuable skins, as well as shooting by pastoralists who feared for the safety of their herds played a role.
Six representatives of this big cat live in Mykolaiv Zoo. The oldest is a black female named Sheba, who was born in our zoo on May 3, 2001. She feels well and has the title of a long-lived animal of Mykolaiv Zoo. The male Amigo was born on July 12, 2005, and arrived at our zoo on March 20, 2008 from Kharkiv Zoo.
Female Sherry is Sheba's daughter, who was born on September 16, 2013.
Sherry and Amigo's children are male Genghis Khan and his two sisters, who were born on March 18, 2019. At the moment, they all live together and have a strong family connection with each other.
For all history of the maintenance of jaguars in Mykolaiv Zoo 32 individuals were born. All this time, this species of animals was kept in the "Big Cats" premises because no summer enclosures were built for them. But from October 28, 2020, preparations began for the construction of new modern summer enclosures. Therefore, we hope that in the next 2021 anniversary year, a new complex "Beasts island" will be built.