About six months after the opening of the San Antonio Zoo’s jaguar walk, the facility welcomes a new feline tenant. Frida, a 2-year-old jaguar with a “sweet demeanor” arrived in San Antonio on Tuesday, April 12.
Now a resident of the South American-themed San Antonio Zoo NEOTROPICA habitat, Frida was transferred from the Memphis Zoo as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP). Since jaguars are an endangered species, the hope is that Frida will end up mating with the zoo’s male jaguar, B’alam.
In exchange, Arizona, a Jaguar born in San Antonio, will be transferred to Memphis. Arizona and B’alam had two cubs in 2016, the first jaguar birth at the San Antonio Zoo since 1974.
“We are thrilled to have Frida,” Tim Morrow, president and CEO of the San Antonio Zoo, said in a news release. “We hope you love her new home at NEOTRTOPICA with the recent addition of Pantera Walk (presented by Texas A&M University-San Antonio). We encourage the community to visit and welcome her to San Antonio and the zoo. We have little jaguar cubs. in our future.”
Frida’s new home in NEOTRTOPICA with the recent addition of Pantera Walk (presented by Texas A&M University-San Antonio).
Esperanza Roth/San Antonio ZooThe Pantera “walkway” opened in October 2021 with a design to mimic the terrain of a jaguar’s native environment. It is said to give big cats 120% more room to move. Jaguars are native to Mexico, Central and South America. They are considered “endangered” due to widespread habitat loss. There are currently 10,000 jaguars living in the wild and 100 in AZA-accredited zoos in North America.
Long ago, jaguars used to naturally inhabit parts of the southwestern United States, including the San Antonio area.
Frida in all her splendor.
Esperanza Roth/San Antonio ZooCORRECTION: This article previously said that Arizona and B’alam were born at the San Antonio Zoo in 2016. You should have read, Arizona and B’alam were the parents of two cubs born at the San Antonio Zoo in 2016. B’alam came to San Antonio from Milwaukee and Arizona was born in Woodland Park.
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