A Rare Jaguar Cub Is Born at Loro Parque in Tenerife

A rare jaguar cub has been born at Loro Parque zoo in Tenerife — an event seen as an important contribution to international conservation programs for the species.

The cub was born to the jaguar pair Tito and Naya as part of the European Endangered Species Programme coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

The cub’s father, a male named Tito, was born in 2013 in St. Petersburg and arrived at Loro Parque in 2025 from the zoo in the Czech city of Hodonín. The female, Naya, was born in 2017 at a zoo in Martinique and has lived at Loro Parque since 2019. Specialists note that the animals showed unusually high compatibility from the very beginning, which played a key role in the successful breeding.

The pair had two cubs, but one was too weak and died shortly after birth — a common occurrence in wild cats. The second cub, according to park staff, is doing well and developing actively.

Jaguars remain a vulnerable species: over the last 20 years, their wild population has fallen by about 25%. In some countries, such as El Salvador and Uruguay, the predator has already disappeared.

A notable aspect of this birth was a new approach by the zoo staff to the animals’ care. For the first time in Loro Parque’s history, the male was not completely isolated during the pregnancy and the birth. After the delivery, Naya could see Tito through a partition, and a week later, the staff recorded a moment when the female herself carried the cub into the observation area, as if to show it to the father. After these observations, specialists allowed the male to be near the female and the cub again.