Playful jaguar 'kitties' mix it up with Erie zoo staff
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For weeks, zookeepers have watched the two spotted jaguar cubs on a black-and-white TV monitor.
They saw the cubs grow from whining kittens that could barely stand to rambunctious cubs, pouncing and tussling with each other as their mother patiently watched.
Ceiba, a first-time mom, has been too protective of her cubs for keepers to get much closer than that monitor since the babies were born May 22.
"She's being a good mom, and that's what we wanted -- it just means we had to stay away," Erie Zoo Director Cindy Kreider said.
But the cubs have gotten a bit more independent as they've grown, wandering from Ceiba and into a separate den at times. Staff took advantage of that newfound independence Friday to steal away the cubs for a few minutes.
For weeks, zookeepers have watched the two spotted jaguar cubs on a black-and-white TV monitor.
They saw the cubs grow from whining kittens that could barely stand to rambunctious cubs, pouncing and tussling with each other as their mother patiently watched.
Ceiba, a first-time mom, has been too protective of her cubs for keepers to get much closer than that monitor since the babies were born May 22.
"She's being a good mom, and that's what we wanted -- it just means we had to stay away," Erie Zoo Director Cindy Kreider said.
But the cubs have gotten a bit more independent as they've grown, wandering from Ceiba and into a separate den at times. Staff took advantage of that newfound independence Friday to steal away the cubs for a few minutes.