Jaglions - Half Jaguar, Half Lion

[Arizona Docent]

@ Bear Creek Dana - I have not rechecked your website lately, but I think I remember you being closed to the public? What are the chances of a zoo volunteer (namely me) who specializes in wild cats and has a lifelong goal of photographing as many species and color morphs (including crossbreeds) of cats as possible, going up there to photograph the jaglions?

 

[Bear Creek Dana]

Visiting Bear Creek Sanctuary

You're right we aren't open to the public. If you adopt an animal at either the Guardian or Protector levels you can book a private tour. (May -September, we're about to close for the year). However, we decided when the jaglions were born we wouldn't let anyone photograph them except our official photographers. We made this decision mostly because we didn't want people to think we bred for them to exploit them for money. So you can come to visit, but not photograph the kids, sorry. We've had requests from the film industry and from biologists for film work & blood & tissue samples & we don't do that either. We want them to have as normal a life as we can give them, & that means we restrict access to them by people they don't know. I hope everyone understands that we do what we do in order to protect them.

Dana

 

[Adam Khor]

You're right we aren't open to the public. If you adopt an animal at either the Guardian or Protector levels you can book a private tour. (May -September, we're about to close for the year). However, we decided when the jaglions were born we wouldn't let anyone photograph them except our official photographers. We made this decision mostly because we didn't want people to think we bred for them to exploit them for money. So you can come to visit, but not photograph the kids, sorry. We've had requests from the film industry and from biologists for film work & blood & tissue samples & we don't do that either. We want them to have as normal a life as we can give them, & that means we restrict access to them by people they don't know. I hope everyone understands that we do what we do in order to protect them.

Dana

I would like to know more about the jaglion's behavior and psychology. Are they more like lions or jaguars, or how are the features of both mixed? What kind of sounds do they make? And how is their health? I've heard most hybrids have health problems but I've also heard your jaglions are very healthy. Do you think this is because of the way they were conceived/raised or because lions and jaguars are more closely related than lions and tigers, for example?

Thanks!

 

[Bear Creek Dana]

Hi Adam, sorry for the delay, had some administrative stuff to do before ZooChat would let me reply. Our jaglions are very healthy, they will be 7 years old in April.

Jahzara, the black female, looks and acts much more like a jaguar than a lion. Her head is very round, for example, she is all muscle. She sounds like a jaguar too. Tsunami, the gold & rosettes male, looks and acts more like a lion. He is very blocky, and things like his tail movements are all lion. He roars when our other lions roar, but you can tell he's different.

As far as why they're healthy, they were fed properly as babies & growing up, they are well socialized & happy. I have a theory about hybrid vigor, but that's just my theory. They're just big, happy, healthy cats & we're very grateful for that.

 

[azcheetah2]

Hi Adam, sorry for the delay, had some administrative stuff to do before ZooChat would let me reply. Our jaglions are very healthy, they will be 7 years old in April.

Jahzara, the black female, looks and acts much more like a jaguar than a lion. Her head is very round, for example, she is all muscle. She sounds like a jaguar too. Tsunami, the gold & rosettes male, looks and acts more like a lion. He is very blocky, and things like his tail movements are all lion. He roars when our other lions roar, but you can tell he's different.

As far as why they're healthy, they were fed properly as babies & growing up, they are well socialized & happy. I have a theory about hybrid vigor, but that's just my theory. They're just big, happy, healthy cats & we're very grateful for that.

I've never heard of a Jaglion until I saw this thread a few moments ago. They are, indeed, fantastic-looking animals. It's interesting that the more jaguar-looking female acts like a typical jaguar while the lion-looking male behaves like a lion. It's a shame they are off-limits to the public, but I can see why that is. It's good to know they've made it to 7 years old and I hope they have many more years ahead of them.

 

[Bear Creek Dana]

Hi azcheetah2. We do schedule private tours for small groups now from June -September. Still no photos of the kids, but if they're out (of their house) you can see them. All visitor info is on our website.

 

[Adam Khor]

Hi Adam, sorry for the delay, had some administrative stuff to do before ZooChat would let me reply. Our jaglions are very healthy, they will be 7 years old in April.

Jahzara, the black female, looks and acts much more like a jaguar than a lion. Her head is very round, for example, she is all muscle. She sounds like a jaguar too. Tsunami, the gold & rosettes male, looks and acts more like a lion. He is very blocky, and things like his tail movements are all lion. He roars when our other lions roar, but you can tell he's different.

As far as why they're healthy, they were fed properly as babies & growing up, they are well socialized & happy. I have a theory about hybrid vigor, but that's just my theory. They're just big, happy, healthy cats & we're very grateful for that.

Very, very interesting! Thanks for replying :> And I'm happy that they are healthy and content. I would like to know your theory about hybrid vigor if you don´t mind. If you do mind, well, don´t tell me anything.

 

[azcheetah2]

Hi azcheetah2. We do schedule private tours for small groups now from June -September. Still no photos of the kids, but if they're out (of their house) you can see them. All visitor info is on our website.

oh, okay. I misunderstood. You're allowed to see them if they're out, but no pictures. I get it. Thank you for that clarification!

 

[Bear Creek Dana]

Very, very interesting! Thanks for replying :> And I'm happy that they are healthy and content. I would like to know your theory about hybrid vigor if you don´t mind. If you do mind, well, don´t tell me anything.

I copied this from Wikipedia because it's pretty concise: "Heterosis (hybrid vigor) is the occurrence of a superior offspring from mixing the genetic contributions of its parents."

It's been a theory about dogs and cats for a long time, that "mutts" are healthier because they don't fall prey to inherited diseases that some purebreeds can get. Whether that applies to hybrid exotics, I don't know. I do know that our guys are big and healthy, physically and emotionally. Meaning that they act like normal non-hybrid big cats. We rescued a hybrid lemur last year and he's a healthy boy too. We try to keep them that way!

 

[azcheetah2]

I copied this from Wikipedia because it's pretty concise: "Heterosis (hybrid vigor) is the occurrence of a superior offspring from mixing the genetic contributions of its parents."

It's been a theory about dogs and cats for a long time, that "mutts" are healthier because they don't fall prey to inherited diseases that some purebreeds can get. Whether that applies to hybrid exotics, I don't know. I do know that our guys are big and healthy, physically and emotionally. Meaning that they act like normal non-hybrid big cats. We rescued a hybrid lemur last year and he's a healthy boy too. We try to keep them that way!

I've always heard, too, that mutts are healthier because they don't generally get the diseases common with pure breeds. I looked at the photo of the female jaglion next to a person and I'm amazed at how big she is. Definitely larger than the average Jaguar, unless the person in the photo is very small. hahaha.

I'm curious about the hybrid lemur. I looked on the website for photos of him and didn't see any that looked like it might be a hybrid. Could you possibly share more information about him? Lemurs are my favorite non-cat mammal so I'm very interested in them.

Also, I just want to thank you for taking the time to come on here and answer our questions and open yourself to any questions we might have. It's much appreciated.

 

[Bear Creek Dana]

Hi azcheetah2 Twill is our hybrid lemur (sorry I'm tardy on getting his pics posted!) His mom, MaMere, is a red front lemur and his dad, Fonzie, is a black lemur. (We have them too.) There is video of Twill on our YouTube channel here: "Lemur vs Lion"

BearCreekSanctuary's Channel - YouTube

and of Fonzie and MaMere and me here: "Feeding Fonzie"

BearCreekSanctuary's Channel - YouTube

They came to us from a sanctuary in Calgary that had to close. Twill is the most gorgeous mahogany colour and is really, really funny...he lives with a ring tailed lemur named Buddy who came with him. Buddy is very sweet. We also have a pair of black & white ruffed lemurs (Kringle and Kotton) and 3 other ring tails. (Patti, Rumel and Boo.) Rumel is lemur spelled backwards)

 

[azcheetah2]

Hi azcheetah2 Twill is our hybrid lemur (sorry I'm tardy on getting his pics posted!) His mom, MaMere, is a red front lemur and his dad, Fonzie, is a black lemur. (We have them too.) There is video of Twill on our YouTube channel here: "Lemur vs Lion"

BearCreekSanctuary's Channel - YouTube

and of Fonzie and MaMere and me here: "Feeding Fonzie"

BearCreekSanctuary's Channel - YouTube

They came to us from a sanctuary in Calgary that had to close. Twill is the most gorgeous mahogany colour and is really, really funny...he lives with a ring tailed lemur named Buddy who came with him. Buddy is very sweet. We also have a pair of black & white ruffed lemurs (Kringle and Kotton) and 3 other ring tails. (Patti, Rumel and Boo.) Rumel is lemur spelled backwards)

That's okay. I imagine things keep you pretty busy there. Thank you for the information. I will have to watch the videos so I can see what he looks like.