A 12-year-old jaguar brought to New Delhi zoo on a “breeding loan” is being sent back after he was found too fat to mate, officials said yesterday.
The big cat, nicknamed Salman, was borrowed from a zoo in southern Kerala state last October, but has since shown little interest in cosying up to his partner, Delhi zoo curator Riaz Khan said.
“The female jaguar has been trying to entice him, but he is simply lazy and does not respond to her overtures,” Khan said.
“The fact is he is too fat to breed and we have decided to send him back to Kerala,” he said, adding that the jaguar polishes off about 6kg of buffalo meat per day.
Jaguars look like the leopard, the only difference being they have spots inside their rosettes. The jaguar is also a much stockier animal, with shorter legs and tail.
Jaguars have no defined breeding season and will mate any time of the year.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources lists the species as near threatened with hunting prohibited in India as well as other countries.
The International Species Information Service says there are only 292 jaguars worldwide.
Delhi zoo officials have not weighed the big cat as yet, although they say he is “much heavier” than the normal 100kg.
The Indian Express daily said frustrated caretakers gave up hope of seeing Salman start a family.
“He has a bigger appetite than the tigers,” the English-language newspaper quoted a caretaker as saying.
“He is lazy, a glutton, just loves to eat and relax,” the caretaker said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was