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AFP
San Juan Teotihuac'e1n
Two jaguar cubs born five weeks ago are the new stars at a wildlife park in Mexico, teaching a valuable lesson about conservation with their cuddly cuteness, according to park officials.
The female cubs, who have not yet been named, had to be separated from their parents at 18 days old when one of them developed a skin condition that worried caretakers at Animal Kingdom in San Juan Teotihuacan, outside Mexico City.
They cannot be returned to their mother, who could kill them if she smells the human scent on them.
Nursed back to health, the cubs now frolic and play with their caretakers -- who feed them through baby bottles -- and explore their enclosure with tentative steps and outsized paws.
It is hard to imagine that in three months'time they will be too large and dangerous to approach. Female jaguars weigh about 50 kilos (110 pounds) as adults, and males about 80 kilos (175 pounds) -- though some reach up to 150 kilos (330 pounds).
Jaguars are the largest cats in the Americas, and the third-largest in the world, after lions and tigers.
They are also"very precise killers,"said Jose Luis Gonzalez, wildlife manager at the park.
