EVER SEEN A JAGUAR?

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 878, 23 January 1930, Page 1

EVER SEEN A JAGUAR?

PAIR BEING BOUGHT FOR AUCKLAND ZOO NOTABLE EXHIBIT COMING “I've never seen a jaguar . . . and I s’pose I never will,” sings the chantyman in the old sea ballad “Rolling Down to Rio.' 1 Like the sailor, most Aucklanders have never seen one of those fierce South American tiger-cats, and like him again the majority doubtless suppose they never will. But people of Auckland may yet have the opportunity of seeing a jaguar. The City Council is now negotiating with an overseas firm of animal dealers for the Immediate dispatch to the Auckland Zoo of a pair of the beasts, male and female. If the deal is completed, the council will be the possessor of a rare and interesting exhibit. It is understood there are no jaguars in any New Zealand zoo and, as far as can be ascertained, the only representative of the species in Australia is in captivity In Taronga Park, the famous Sydney zoo. The Town Clerk, Mr. J. S. Brigham, said thi3 morning that the council had endeavoured a year ago to procure a pair of jaguars, but a scarcity of the animals resulted in a breakdown ot negotiations. It was hoped to have the animals in Auckland within sir weeks. The animals would then have a chance of becoming acclimatised before the coming of the cold weather The jaguar is a large, powerful animal ranging from Texas to Paraguay. It has a larger head, heavier body, and short, thicker legs than the leopard. It is brownish yellow or buff, marked with black spots, each surrounded by a broken ring of smaller spots. It chiefly inhabits the jungle and prey 3 upon smaller animals.