The massive head and strong canines are adaptations for crushing skeletal material and cracking open well armoured prey such as turtles. Like most cats, the jaguar is solitary outside mother-cub groups.
Jaguars prefer dense forests or swamps with good cover as they usually stalk their prey on the ground. Mating occurs throughout the year, but young are reportedly more likely to be born in the wet season when prey is more abundant. The female gives birth to a litter size of one to four cubs after a gestation period of 91 to 111 days. Young are dependent on their mother for up to two years, after which time they disperse to find their own territory. Jaguars reach sexual maturity at two to three years for females, three to four years for males.
Kumal is a big cat with a heart of gold. He is a very relaxed jaguar but does have a playful side. He’s completely in love with Kedera and is often seen snuggling up to her at night time.
Kedera is our female jaguar, who has lived at Hertfordshire Zoo since December 2014. She was born in Poland and moved to the Zoo permanently as part of the European breeding programme. As part of that programme, she lives with Kumal and they have had a cub together in 2017. Kedera is a very active cat and enjoys playing with enrichment and pouncing on Kumal whenever she can. Although he is much larger than her, she makes up for it with sass and attitude.
While many of our cats are very fussy eaters, Kedera loves any type of meat given to her and will hoover it up as quickly as possible. Her favourite thing to play with is logs in the enclosure and boxes big enough to lay on!
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