Jaguar (
Panthera onca)
Care Manual
62
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
In general, felids of the genus
Panthera nurse well from human nursing bottles. Preemie nipples or
cross cut normal nipples can also be used. A wide selection of nipple
types and openings should be
available because some trial and error may be needed to find the best type to use with each individual
cub. Bottles and bowls should be cleaned and sanitized between feedings. After cleaning, bottles can be
boiled to avoid contamination from the environment. Formula left over at the end of a 24-hour period
should be discarded. A detailed nursery log should be kept, recording date, times fed, amount fed, body
weight, urination/defecation, stool condition, remarks/notes. See Appendix G for an example.
Solids can be introduced at 5 to 6 weeks in the form of a nutritionally complete canned cat food or a
blended nutritionally complete raw meat diet. By this time, the cubs should be consuming formula from a
bowl. The blended canned or raw meat diet can be added to the formula in the bowl. If canned cat food is
used, it will need to be mixed with the raw meat diet and gradually decreased and removed over time.
The benefit to using a canned diet initially is to delay microbial introduction to the cub’s gastrointestinal
tract. However, several species have been weaned directly onto raw diets without apparent ill effects. At
this time, the formula amount can begin to decrease as a percent of body weight. Complete removal of
formula can be attempted as early as 7.2 weeks and as late as 11 weeks (AZA Jaguar SSP Management
Group and Advisors, 2014).
8.6 Contraception
Many animals cared for in AZA-accredited institutions breed so successfully that contraception
techniques are implemented to ensure that the population remains at a healthy size. In the case of an
animal on loan from another facility, consult the loan agreement or owner regarding authority to
contracept. In the case of permanent contraception, prior permission of the animal’s owner must be
obtained.
The AZA Jaguar SSP works closely with the AZA Reproductive Management Center (RMC) and
recommends following the RMC’s recommendations for best practices in jaguar contraception.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist (e.g., Suprelorin
®
(deslorelin)) implants achieve
contraception by suppressing the reproductive endocrine system, preventing production of pituitary (FSH
and LH) and gonadal hormones (estradiol and progesterone in females and testosterone in males). The
observed effects are similar to those following either ovariectomy in females or castration in males. GnRH
agonists first stimulate
the reproductive system, which can result in estrus and ovulation in females or
temporary enhancement of testosterone and semen production in males. Then, down-regulation follows
the initial stimulation. It is important to suppress the stimulatory phase to prevent the sustained elevation
of progesterone following ovulation, which can cause mammary and uterine pathology. The stimulation
phase can be suppressed by daily Ovaban
®
(megestrol acetate) administration for one week before and
one week after implant placement (Wright
et al., 2001). Suprelorin
®
should not be used during pregnancy,
since it may cause spontaneous abortion or prevent mammary development necessary for lactation. It
may prevent initiation of lactation by inhibiting progesterone
secretion, but effects on established lactation
are less likely. New data from domestic cats have shown no effect on subsequent reproduction when
treatment began before puberty.
A drawback of Suprelorin
®
is that time of reversal can be quite variable. The most widely used
formulations are designed to be effective for a minimum of either six or twelve months, but the actual time
of suppression can be longer in some individuals. Preliminary results indicate that removing the implants
can hasten reversal. Information for placing implants to facilitate removal can be found at
www.stlzoo.org/contraception
. Although Suprelorin
®
can also be an effective contraceptive in males, it is
more commonly used in females because monitoring efficacy in females by suppression of estrus
behavior or gonadal steroids in feces is usually easier than ensuring continued
absence of sperm in
males because most institutions cannot perform regular semen collections. If it is used in males, the
disappearance of sperm from the ejaculate following down-regulation of testosterone may take an
additional six weeks, as with a vasectomy.
Melengestrol acetate (MGA) implants were previously the most commonly used method in jaguars
and other felids. Other synthetic progestins include Depo-Provera
®
(medroxyprogesterone acetate)
injections and Ovaban® (megestrol acetate) pills. Although MGA has proven effective in felids, possible
side effects include uterine and mammary pathology. Studies by Dr. Linda Munson in the 1990’s found a
correlation between MGA use for more than four years and the prevalence of mammary and uterine
pathology including cancer in jaguars and other felids. Other progestins are also very likely to cause
Jaguar (
Panthera onca)
Care Manual
63
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
these
same side effects, although data are not available for all of them. An important disadvantage of
Depo-Provera
®
is that, in addition to potential progestin-related side effects, time to reversal can be up to
two years. Ovaban
®
is not a good option either, because effective contraceptive dosages have not been
established, and it has to be administered reliably every day to be effective, so is not practical for most
individuals.
If progestins are going to be used, they should be administered for no more than two years and then
discontinued to allow for a pregnancy. Discontinuing progestin contraception and allowing non-pregnant
cycles does not substitute for a pregnancy. Use of progestins for more than a total of four years is not
recommended. MGA implants last at least two years, and clearance of the hormone from the system
occurs rapidly after implant removal. Progestins are considered safe to use during lactation. Additionally,
the porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccine may cause permanent sterility in felids after only one or two
treatments. This approach is not recommended.
For individual jaguars unlikely to receive
a breeding recommendation, permanent sterilization by
ovariohysterectomy for females or castration for males may be the best option.
Although blocking access of sperm to eggs via tubal ligation will prevent fertilization, it will not prevent
the potential adverse effects to females that can result from prolonged, cyclic exposure to the
endogenous progesterone associated with the pseudo-pregnancy that follows ovulation induced by
copulation. This method is not recommended for jaguars.
Separation, another option for contraception, has recently been called into question because
repeated non-conceptive cycles have been associated with subsequent reproductive failure and uterine
pathology in cheetahs (Crosier
et al., 2011; Hermes
et al., 2006) and canids (Asa
et al., 2014).
Comparable research hasn’t been
conducted with jaguars, but the outcomes would likely be similar.
Given the lack of good alternatives for jaguars, separation may be the preferable option among potentially
reversible approaches.
Because it has become clear that regular reproduction may be necessary to maintain fertility in
carnivores and perhaps in other taxa as well, Lifetime Reproductive Planning is being
developed for
females. This plan advocates allowing reproduction soon after puberty to establish fertility, and then
allows breeding again at least every 2 to 3 years to maintain fertility. Because of the potential effects of
this strategy on demographics and gene diversity, modeling is underway using representative carnivore
species to explore the effects of various breeding strategies (K. Traylor-Holzer, personal communication,
2014).
Reproductive management does not end with the life of the animal. Many of the jaguars in zoos
worldwide are valuable, but, even when individuals are not considered valuable; their reproductive tracts
can provide essential information to help us determine reproductive requirements of the jaguar.
Contraceptive choices for jaguars and other carnivores are limited and all have disadvantages.
Results to date indicate that the method that is safest (Suprelorin
®
implants) has an unpredictable time to
reversal, whereas the methods that are more reliably reversible (e.g., MGA implants) carry a high risk of
uterine and mammary pathology. Research efforts are focused primarily on improving reversal
predictability for Suprelorin
®
(e.g., by removing implants and using hormone monitoring to better
understand the reversal process). More details on each contraception method and ordering information
can
be found at
www.stlzoo.org/contraception
(AZA Jaguar SSP Management Group and Advisors,
personal communication, 2014).