Modern Weights and Measurements of Jaguars

[Balam]

In the year 2020, alongside Ousado, female Amanaci was also rescued from the Porto Jofre region due to damage on her paws caused by the fires. Unlike Ousado, her injuries were very deep and prevented her from being returned into the wild. Amanaci was then sent to the conservational facility NEX to live the rest of her life.

Amanaci today, she is an absolutely massive female and we will see why that's relevant. It's a shame her genes couldn't remain in the wild:

In that same year, 2020, Amanaci was crossed with a male named Guarani who too inhabits NEX. They had one cub named Apoena who was bred with the purpose of being rewilded into Caiman Ecological Refuge by Onçafari. Unfortunately, the team of vets at NEX began to notice odd behavior by Apoena months prior to his scheduled transfer to Caiman. When they performed analyses, they noticed that his retinas were damaged, rendering him unfit to survive in the wild, so the rewilding project had to be canceled.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

At 1.5 years old, Apoena weighs a whooping 93 kg according to NEX:

*This image is copyright of its original author

He's fine! He's strong and huge! Weighing 93 kilos at just one and a half years old. The retinal degeneration has stalled and the ophthalmologists are investigating his case. We didn't take any pictures of him, so as not to stress him out. He's very aloof and, as he's been trained to be free, he's very angry. We have to approach him little by little... but he's wonderful!!!!

93 kg for a sub-adult of 1.5 years of age is extremely impressive. We will see how much he weighs once he reaches adulthood. 130+ kg seems reasonable for him. That's why his mother's genes were so crucial, since she's massive herself.

Initially, the veterinarians hypothesized that his blindness might've been caused by a genetic defect, if that's the case, they're looking to do studies to find the gene causing the disability. If it is due to defective genes, then it makes the situation even sadder because he could not be used as a breeder for his cubs to be rewilded instead. If it's not, then he can still be used as a breeder.

In an ideal universe where he doesn't have any genetic issues, I'd like to see him moved to the Jaguar Reintroduction Center in the Iberá wetlands of Argentina so he could be used to breed with the captive females whose cubs would be released for the ongoing reintroduction project. Let's remember that the first adult jaguars ever released to Iberá, sisters Juruna and Mariua, were rescued by NEX and later donated to the project. Let's hope they can continue breeding Amanaci, at least. Reply