Thanks to a little wheeling and dealing, some new animals have been brought to the Magnetic Hill Zoo in Moncton.
Zoo officials hope the new additions kick start a successful captive breeding program.
Two black jaguars are part of the new arrivals. The pair are two of only 12 black jaguars in Canada. The male has already taken a liking to his new surroundings.
“He’s really young, so he’s quite adaptable and he was also hand raised, so he’s used to people more so than the female we got, who would have been raised by her parents and had a different upbringing,” says zookeeper Tiffany Bateman.
The female is still skittish and stays inside. The two jaguars are from different zoos, so they are new to each other, as well as their surroundings.
“They're actually doing quite well, they haven't shown any aggression toward each other,” says Bateman. “She's rubbing up against the fence for him to rub his face on hers.”
The zoo’s two new Grant’s Zebras are also secluded. The facility’s vet says it is important to let new animals adapt at their own pace and to make sure they’re healthy before integrating them with other animals.
“We have a quarantine process, so they're going to be by themselves for 30 days, generally takes our whole zoo staff to coordinate everything and move them in to the new area,” says veterinary technician Amanda Steeves.
The zoo hopes the zebras and jaguars are the foundation of a captive breeding program.
“There's many benefits to breeding, one is that the animal goes through the natural process of breeding, it's very enriching for the animal to have young, to raise young, to go through the whole family process, also the public loves to see baby animals,” head zookeeper Bruce Dougan.
The zoo will be open Sundays starting this weekend.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
