LA Zoo Unveils New Jaguar Habitat
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A 7,100-square-foot habitat and exhibit space was unveiled Friday for the Los Angeles Zoo's three resident jaguars.
The new habitat, home to a male jaguar, Kaloa, and a male and female jaguar pair named Stewie and Johar, is located on the northwest end of the Rainforest of the Americas area that opened last year and features a waterfall, swimming pool and deadwood trees for climbing.
The area also includes an 1,800-square-foot animal holding space with six "bedrooms" and a day room, located outside of the exhibit area.
Zoo visitors will be able to see the jaguars through a glass viewing area and learn about the cats through interpretive graphics.
Jaguars are considered a "near threatened" species. They once lived throughout central and south America, as well as in the southwestern United States, where jaguars are now believed to be extinct. Jaguars are now mostly found in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, and in the countries of Mexico, Guatemala and Argentina.
Jaguars are the largest cat species in the Americas and third largest in the world, with males weighing an average of 125-250 pounds.
Jaguars can live in rainforests, swamps, grasslands, scrublands, deserts and lowland semi-deciduous forests.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
