Mother-and-son jaguars retire together at Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has welcomed two senior jaguars, a mother-and-son duo, to a specially designed habitat created to support ageing big cats.
Bonita, aged 16, and her 11-year-old son Remi have been transferred to the zoo, where they will receive long-term care from its expert carnivore team. Jaguars in the wild typically live for around 12 years, so both animals are considered elderly.
The pair, who have lived together since Remi’s birth, will remain side by side in their new surroundings in Chester.
Zoo keepers say they are prepared to provide tailored support for Bonita as she enters her later years while ensuring Remi continues to thrive.
Their arrival follows months of coordination with specialists from Europe’s jaguar conservation programme, which oversees the care and movement of jaguars across accredited institutions.
Dave Hall, Chester Zoo’s Team Manager of Carnivores, said:
“Bonita and Remi are truly special animals, and we’re delighted to be able to provide them with a new retirement home here at Chester Zoo.
“Bonita has been a devoted mother to Remi throughout his life, so ensuring they stayed together was a real priority for everyone involved. Remi’s journey has also been a remarkable one – in 2019, a lump was removed from his head following a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma, a very aggressive malignant cancer, which makes his continued good health today all the more extraordinary.
“Our teams have worked closely with colleagues from across the UK and Europe to make sure every detail of their move and ongoing care has been fully considered – from transport to the set-up of their new habitat. It’s fantastic to see them already settling in and exploring their new surroundings side-by-side.
“Here at Chester, Bonita and Remi will receive the very highest standard of care. The striking duo will also play an important role in helping us tell the story of jaguars in the wild – a species under increasing threat from habitat loss and conflict with humans. We hope their journey will inspire people to care about jaguars and support efforts to protect the forests they depend on.”
Jaguars are listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with their numbers declining due to habitat loss, illegal hunting and growing conflict with people across their range in the Americas.
Paul Bamford, Regional Field Programme Senior Manager for Chester Zoo’s conservation work in Latin America, said:
“Jaguars can be found across a massive range in the wild, but from our landscape projects in Bolivia and Brazil, we know their habitats are under serious pressure from human activity.
“Jaguar territories are increasingly fragmented as more land is taken up for agriculture, and this leads to more human-wildlife conflict between carnivores and farmers in rural areas. For instance, the Inter-Andean dry forests in southern Bolivia, where we run an Andean Carnivore Conservation Programme, have shrunk to 6% of their original size.
“Industrial agriculture accounts for almost 70% of deforestation across Latin America, and these supply chains stretch across the globe, including to the UK. We’re working to protect biodiversity around soy plantations in Brazil and pushing for more sustainability across the world. Breaking the link between habitat loss and the products we rely on will benefit jaguars in the wild.”
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