21-03-2025
Filly the jaguar has successfully transferred to her Milwaukee County Zoo habitat
Filly, a jaguar from Belize who arrived here earlier this year, has "successfully transferred" to her habitat in the Milwaukee County Zoo's Big Cat Country, the zoo reported in a post on its Facebook page.
The March 18 post includes a video of Filly exploring her new home.
A female jaguar estimated to be 6 or 7 years old, Filly arrived at the zoo Jan. 23 from the Belize Zoo & Tropical Education Center. After her arrival, she went through a standard quarantine period and related onboarding care from zoo staff.
Filly was humanely trapped in 2019 and brought to the Belize Zoo through the Human Jaguar Conflict Program, which rescues jaguars that have been reported to be preying on livestock.
"These are nearly always jaguars who are older, injured, or sick and unable to compete successfully with healthy jaguars for food and territory," Milwaukee County Zoo stated in its January announcement of Filly's arrival.
The Milwaukee zoo's animal care team has taken a one-step-at-a-time approach to acclimating Filly, and they will keep monitoring her in her new environment. In the Facebook post, the zoo said that Filly and resident male jaguar Frankie may see each other in passing, but they will not be directly introduced to each other until "she is confident in all jaguar habitat areas, and not until she shows signs of estrus. After the first meeting, the animal care team will follow Filly and Frankie's cues to let us know if they want to be together."
The Milwaukee and Belize zoos have a conservation partnership that goes back to the 1980s. Frankie is the son of Pat, who arrived from the Belize Zoo in 2008 and also was a conflict jaguar, according to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
More: Free admission days and events at Milwaukee museums and the zoo in April
Note: This story was updated to add a photo.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Zoo visitors can now see the zoo's new jaguar, Filly
