For the first time in 30 years, a pair of Jaguar cubs have been born at San Diego Zoo and are gearing up to make their public debut.

San Diego Zoo keepers have unveiled a pair of three-week-old jaguar cubs.

The as yet unnamed siblings will remain out of public view in a den at the Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey for a couple more months. Once the cubs are more mobile, their mother will have the opportunity to take them to a cave where the public will be able to see the cubs' development. The male cub weighs just over five pounds, with his sister close behind.

The arrival of the cubs is a rarity for the zoo, says senior keeper Nicole Johnston.

"Here at the San Diego Zoo, our female jaguar just gave birth on April 26 to two cubs. We're very excited about this, we're ecstatic. We haven't had babies here in 30 years," said Johnston.

Although these two youngsters may look adorable, jaguars can range from 70 to 249 pounds. Jaguars are the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere and the third largest of the world's cats. The South American native word for jaguar, yaguara, means "animal that kills in a single bound."

Demand for the jaguar's beautiful rosette-covered fur is one of the reasons this species is endangered. In addition, loss of habitat and the human-animal conflict have reduced populations of jaguars throughout their range from North America through South America.

Conservation Issues: There are eight subspecies of jaguars, all of which are considered Threatened because of overhunting and loss of habitat. Jaguars are very reclusive and hard to study and most of the information about them comes from captive jaguars.
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