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Neron was born at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam on 28th June 2017.
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He arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary in November 2018 as part of the co-ordinated breeding programme, we were over the moon to welcome him.
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Neron is a melanistic jaguar where 1/10 are naturally found to be black in the wild. Melanism in jaguars is inherited by a dominant gene, which leads to a production of dark melanin in the coat.
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Neron's character is quietly confident and he takes everything in his stride but at his own.
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Neron first met Keira in December 2019 when they were introduced to share an enclosure.
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Neron's markings are particularly stunning and visible, he is a magnificent specimen of a Jaguar.
Neron came to the Sanctuary as part of the breeding programme for jaguars. He was about 18 months old on arrival. On arrival he was shy and it took a few weeks for him to come out of his shell, but we realised very quickly that he was a gentle natured boy. Just over a year later he was joined by Keira, his breeding partner.
It was virtually love at first sight, the couple were inseparable. They cuddled and groomed each other every single day, it wasn’t long before we knew we would be welcoming the pitter-patter of little paws. And just like that Neron became a dad as his daughter Inka was born. He is now back sharing an enclosure with Keira and is in his happy place. We couldn’t be prouder of our outstandingly handsome jaguar, he is a chatty boy loved by all who meet him.
As with the majority of the big cats they are solitary and only really socialise with others for breeding purposes. There are slight variations in the colour of the coat with black individuals being relatively common. These all black cats are often incorrectly referred to as black panthers. The coat colouration is very similar to that of a leopard, but there is a difference in the rosettes which in the jaguar have a small black dots in the centre.
Jaguar are also much more heavily built than the leopard with a longer face and much more prominent sagittal crest, giving the head a distinctly pointed top. Unlike many of the other cat species Jaguar are not adverse to water and are actually very good swimmers.
They have the strongest bite of all the big cats, exerting a bite pressure of approximately 1500-2000 pounds per square inch, (depending on source material).