Like a new kid on the playground, Mikey appeared nervous. He paced back and forth and disappeared behind logs and brush when a group of loud kids showed up.
The 11-month-old jaguar is getting acclimated to his new home, OC Zoo Manager Donald Zeigler said Wednesday, March 8. He’s still trying to figure things out.
Mickey is the zoo’s newest addition, joining four other large cats, including big brother Ziggy. They are living in the zoo’s new, 2-acre Large Mammal Exhibit that opened in May.
Mickey and Ziggy are from the Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona, but Ziggy arrived in time for the exhibit’s opening. Mickey is now being introduced.
Miguel Cotero was lucky enough to spot and photograph Mickey – he’s about 50 pounds – before the cat disappeared from the public’s view.
“This was an empty cage a month ago,” Cotero, who visits the zoo regularly, said. “I’m a big feline fan. I think they’re the best species.”
Mickey’s coloring is a rosette pattern in browns, black and white, different from Ziggy’s all-black, or “melanistic,” fur. Ziggy, 3 years old, is about 140 pounds.
Because male jaguars are instinctively solitary animals in the wild, they live in separate enclosures.
Ziggy watched the zoo’s visitors from a perch, coming down at one point for a drink of water. Locking eyes with 3-year-old Gabriella Moran, he swatted the glass of the enclosure.
“What an incredible impression of our first visit to this zoo,” said her parents, who were visiting from San Bernardino County.
Jaguars, which are considered endangered, are found in Arizona and New Mexico, which fits the zoo’s focus on animals of the southwestern United States.
“Mickey and Ziggy came to the OC Zoo from the Wildlife World Zoo in an effort to educate the public about animals native to the southwest United States,” Danielle Kennedy, spokesperson for OC Parks, said. “The OC Zoo’s mission is to help visitors gain a respect for these animals.”
The zoo is…
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