Over the past couple of years, Panther Ridge has been a bit more like Pan Central Station when it comes to jaguars.

After Zeus passed away in July 2008, Aztec was left feeling lonely... until the arrival of Tia, an adult female, the following year. It took them a little while to get acclimated to each other, but that they did. And on September 17th, 2009, we were thrilled to welcome baby Isabella into the world. Though the birth was not without adventure.

We discovered her in the bed of hay that had been prepared for her birth,  but something was very wrong.  We could see that she was breathing,  her fur was all clumped up and disheveled -- she had not been cleaned up by her mom -- and in fact Tia was nowhere near her.  We waited and waited for Tia to go to her and try to nurse and care for her,  but she kept her distance and just looked at her baby as if she were an alien.

After an all day vigil,  it was time to move in to try to save the baby before she died from dehydration.  We lured Tia away with food, and Judy crawled into the den area and scooped up the delicate little creature.  She had supplies on hand just in case something like this happened, and introduced the baby to her first bottle, a formula from ther vet that had colostrum in it ( though not as good as what comes from the mother) and other supplements for newborn stress. 

To Judy's delight, she latched on and drank down the small initial portion and drifted off to a nap.Judy then gently cleaned off and de-matted her fur and properly tied off her umbilical cord, which was long and stringy. Bella gained strength with every bottle, and has now grown into a splendid juvenile jag.

Learn more about jaguars