This is heart-breaking news to hear, RIP.
Chester Zoo Chester Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter DesertRhino150
- Start date
It was a great disappointment that Napo became sterile through contraception and a sad loss to the region.
The previous pair showed a lot of promise. Salvador was born 06/05/1991 at Poznan Zoo and arrived 22/06/2001. Sofia joined him the following year on 22/09/2002. She was born at Rostock Zoo 22/05/2001, so was a young female.
Salvador and Sofia produced two litters, with no cubs surviving past a few days.
Chester zoo hasn't announced anything yet. So I was still hoping it wasn't true. How sad, I just saw them a few weeks back.
Chester Zoo has now apparently confirmed it to the newspaper. RIP Goshi.
jaguars bred at Chester.
1969 3
1970 1.1
1971 1.2
1973 (3 D.N.S)
1974 (1 D.N.S)
1975 3
1976 (1 D.N.S)
1977 1
2007 (2 D.N.S)
Article on Goshi’s death; cause of death to be determined:
Sadness as Chester Zoo confirms shock death of popular jaguar
Sadness as Chester Zoo confirms shock death of popular jaguar
Thats very sad news and she will be missed by many visitors and my thoughts go out to the keepers who have cared for her over the years .
hari Jones
Well-Known Member
She really will be missed I hope napo is doing ok
I didn't see her very much but every time I did it was an amazing experience. She was such a beautiful jaguar and I'm sure lots of people are really going to miss her, myself included. My thoughts are with her keepers, Napo and everyone else who cared about her.
hari Jones
Well-Known Member
I hope napo isn't going to be lonely because jaguars are naturally solitary in the wild
Napo should be fine. They’re a solitary species and while they’re often kept in pairs in captivity, they also enjoy their own space.
Long term, there’s no reason Napo couldn’t be paired with another female. Given he’s sterile, it’d be a non breeding pair - but that could suit either a well represented female or a much younger female, with the view of providing her with a new mate for breeding when Napo passes.
I'm gutted to hear the sad news about Goshi. 
Such a beautiful cat and the number of photos of her being posted on Facebook in response to the news highlights just how many people loved her.
Out of interest, can anyone fill me in on Goshi's origins - i.e. place and rough date of birth, when she came to Chester etc? I gather that she was younger than Napo as well, which makes this new even sadder. I really hope he is OK, it sounds like he has been quite distressed judging by reports from visitors since she passing.
It will be interesting to see what happens next with regards to jaguars at Chester - but personally I really, really hope that Napo can live out the rest of his days at Chester. Perhaps if a new pair could be sourced he could occupy the other half of SOTJ?
Such a beautiful cat and the number of photos of her being posted on Facebook in response to the news highlights just how many people loved her. Out of interest, can anyone fill me in on Goshi's origins - i.e. place and rough date of birth, when she came to Chester etc? I gather that she was younger than Napo as well, which makes this new even sadder. I really hope he is OK, it sounds like he has been quite distressed judging by reports from visitors since she passing.
It will be interesting to see what happens next with regards to jaguars at Chester - but personally I really, really hope that Napo can live out the rest of his days at Chester. Perhaps if a new pair could be sourced he could occupy the other half of SOTJ?
It would be nice to see it used for jaguars again as it was designed to do.
hari Jones
Well-Known Member
Yes hopefully if napo becomes fertile they can find him a girlfriend and goshis origins she was born in beauval in 2012 to I belive a black male and a spotted golden femaleI'm gutted to hear the sad news about Goshi.
Out of interest, can anyone fill me in on Goshi's origins - i.e. place and rough date of birth, when she came to Chester etc? I gather that she was younger than Napo as well, which makes this new even sadder. I really hope he is OK, it sounds like he has been quite distressed judging by reports from visitors since she passing.
It will be interesting to see what happens next with regards to jaguars at Chester - but personally I really, really hope that Napo can live out the rest of his days at Chester. Perhaps if a new pair could be sourced he could occupy the other half of SOTJ?
I'm gutted to hear the sad news about Goshi.
Out of interest, can anyone fill me in on Goshi's origins - i.e. place and rough date of birth, when she came to Chester etc? I gather that she was younger than Napo as well, which makes this new even sadder. I really hope he is OK, it sounds like he has been quite distressed judging by reports from visitors since she passing.
It will be interesting to see what happens next with regards to jaguars at Chester - but personally I really, really hope that Napo can live out the rest of his days at Chester. Perhaps if a new pair could be sourced he could occupy the other half of SOTJ?
Goshi was born in 2012, so she would've been 10 this year. She arrived from ZooParc de Beauval in 2013, and was paired with Napo ever since.
There's no reason why Napo can't be paired with another female again. I think it would be much better if Napo was sent elsewhere to live with another non-breeding female and Chester imported a completely new, young breeding pair.
Napo is infertile, he cannot become fertile.
Thanks for the info.
I wonder if mixing Napo with another female would be a success; clearly he got on extremely well with Goshi, but would they be as lucky a second time? It seems a lot of risk with no potential for cubs as a reward - I suppose those who know him (and the species in general) better than we do will make an informed decision at some point in the future.
I definitely couldn't get behind Napo leaving Chester though, as I mentioned earlier I'd love to see him occupy one half of the Jaguar complex (either alone or with a new companion) and a potential breeding pair in the other half. Judging by the reaction to Goshi's death on social media, these individual animals are much loved by visitors and it would be lovely for Napo to enjoy the rest of his days in this wonderful environment where his many fans can still visit him. I remember on the Secret Life of the Zoo TV show that one of the keepers made no secret of how devastated they'd be if either Napo or Goshi left the zoo - I certainly hope nobody who sees them, or any of the carnivore team, will be asking them questions about Napo's future at the zoo as I imagine they are all really upset at the moment and the last thing they probably want to think about is whether to ship him off to another collection.
Napo could definitely be integrated with another female. Although they’re a solitary species, nobody can deny a pair mutually benefit from each other’s company - which enriches their lives and improves their welfare. There’s been a number of instances where Jaguar have been paired for no other reason than companionship and it’s been highly successful.
Napo is 11 years old and could easily live another decade. The logical decision is to pair him with a well represented female of a similar age and retire them to another zoo.
Napo is a well loved icon of Chester Zoo, but their world class exhibit would be best utilised by a breeding pair and their offspring, with Chester Zoo hopefully welcoming their first successful litter since 1977.
The capacity for Spirit of the Jaguar is actually 2.2 + offspring, and so they could afford to keeping Napo and importing a companion for him, alongside importing a completely new pair for breeding.