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New jaguars welcomed into Bearizona family

Nacho and Libre are the two new jaguars at Bearizona. They replaced Bagheera, the park's previous jaguar.

Nacho and Libre are the two new jaguars at Bearizona. They replaced Bagheera, the park's previous jaguar.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — There are two new faces at Bearizona. Almost four months ago the wildlife park traded their original jaguar, Bagheera, for two brothers – Nacho and Libre.

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Bearizona

Libre is a new jaguar at Bearizona.

“It is like any cat that is having a litter, they are going to be twins. One is black, which is melanistic (where the dark-colored pigment melanin is developed in the skin and fur, giving the animal a dark or black-colored appearance) and the other one is a spotted, tawny gold,” said Kari St. Clair, spokesperson for Bearizona.

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Bearizona

Nacho is a new jaguar at Bearizona.

The brothers were rescued as pups and were living at Project Survival Cat Haven near Fresno, California.

“They have all big cats and are very hands-on with all their animals,” St. Clair said. “Nacho and Libre as they started getting older, it gets more and more dangerous to have hands on contact with a jaguar so it was time for them to find a new facility."

The Cat Haven contacted Bearizona and after a tour asked if Bearizona would like to have the brothers.

“We had Bagheera at the time who only likes to be by himself, he’s a bachelor at heart,” St. Clair said. “(But) our facility was built to have two. We love Bagheera but it probably wasn’t the best fit for him since he always wanted to be alone.”

Bearizona found a home for Bagheera at a sanctuary in southern California that was looking for a solitary cat who could be more of an educational animal.

“So we made a three way switch,” St. Clair said.

It has taken the brothers a few days to get used to the new facility and the sights, sounds and smells of their new enclosure.

“But they are loving it out there now,” St. Clair said. “They were used to the public because of the tours that their old facility did — it was even more personable than what we have. Here they have their own area and people just come up to the window. They seem very relaxed.”

Bearizona has kept the brothers on a diet recommended by its vet which consists of around 6.25 pounds of feline diet mixed with frozen chicks per day.

“Feline diet is something that you purchase. It has all of the nutrients that they would find in the wild, so it has ground up bone and bone marrow and meat and is very nutritious,” St. Clair said.

Visitors can see the brothers frolicking in their new home which is an 11,000 square foot exhibit complete with a 30-foot waterfall at Bearizona.

Bearizona is open year-round. It opens daily at 8:30 a.m. with the last car admitted at 4 p.m.

Admission includes the drive-through animal park, walk-through at Fort Bearizona, Birds of Prey show, Wild Ride Bus Tour and all shows and animal encounters. More information is available at www.bearizona.com.


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