Kianto the jaguar changes spots — from Chicago to San Jose
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo welcomes the big cat as its newest resident
There’s a new big cat in town, and we know what you’re thinking: Happy Hollow Park and Zoo’s newest addition — a 12-year-old male jaguar named Kianto — must be here to keep company and perhaps cuddle with the zoo’s other jaguar, Sophia.
Sophia’s favorite scent, zoo officials say, just happens to be Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men.
But it turns out, Kianto’s not here to breed. He’s here from Chicago so the city’s Lincoln Park Zoo can make room for a younger, more virile cat as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ species survival plan.
San Jose zoogoers like Jesse Morales are the beneficiaries. Now there are two big cats to admire.
“I really like the way it just kind of lays around, but it’s careful and it’s watching you,” said San Jose resident Morales, who was admiring Sophia Tuesday during a visit with family and friends.
Lyla McGauvran, visiting from Apple Valley, agreed, with the caveat that she wouldn’t like to take it home because “It could eat you all up.”
Weighing in around 130 pounds, Kianto — a member of the third-largest cat species after lions and tigers, and the largest in North America — is a skilled climber, crawler and swimmer.
He is covered in tawny colored fur blanketed with black rosettes. The pattern of spots is so distinctive that researchers can identify cats in the wild based on their spots, according to zoo curator Heather Vrzal. And jaguars are the only big cats native to the Americas with the ability to roar.
Happy Hollow’s other jaguar, 14-year-old Sophia, has been at the zoo since 2005. She and Kianto won’t even bunk together. They are not a genetic match for breeding, the zoo said. The two will live separately because jaguars are solitary animals.
“We’re really pleased to have two jaguars,” Vrzal said, adding that although the pair haven’t met, they are “very interested in each other.”
In the wild, jaguars can ambush and capture prey up to twice their size. They eat a variety of animals, including capybaras, monkeys, birds, snakes and fish. According to Vrzal, the cats have more than 1,000 pounds of pressure in their bite force, allowing them to climb a tree carrying an entire carcass.
Life at the zoo, however,
is a little easier. Keepers will feed Kianto meat, bones and fish twice a day.
With two jaguars, the zoo can rotate which cat is on exhibit, giving both time to relax out of the public’s view every other day. Kianto’s enclosure is full of big logs and rocks to climb and a pool and waterfall for cooling off on hot summer days.
“A lot of thought was put into that space and it was built specifically with jaguars in mind,” Vrzal said.
When he’s on exhibit, Kianto lounges around his enclosure and rolls in the grass. Keepers do enrichment activities, introducing the jaguar to new foods, textures and scents. Kianto is partial to cinnamon and nutmeg. Sophia, on the other hand, likes cologne.
Kianto is well-trained. The jaguar will voluntarily stick his tail out for blood draws and is accustomed to opening his mouth wide and allowing keepers to peer in.
Jaguars typically range from Central to South America, and while their habitat technically includes parts of the United States, sightings have become increasingly rare as humans and development have encroached.
Still, while jaguars in the wild typically live for only around 15 years, they can live past 20 in captivity because they have regular veterinary care and balanced diets, meaning Kianto could be at Happy Hollow for years to come.
“We’re very excited,” Vrzal said.