An endangered jaguar has been born at an East Texas zoo as part of a breeding program called the Species Survival Plan.
The Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin on Thursday announced the birth of the male cub.
The jaguar was born Aug. 20 and named Balam, which is the Mayan word for jaguar. The animal weighed 1.6 pounds at birth, but has since grown to about 2 pounds.
A zoo statement said the parents are 8-year-old Seraphina and 3-year-old Kabah.
Zoo experts are tending to the cub because the first-time mother was not nursing her offspring and the newborn required special attention.
Zoo staff said in a news release that Balam quickly rebounded and is doing very well under the care of staff.
The cub is not yet on public display and is in visual contact with one of its parents at the indoor enclosure.
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Prior to Balam's birth, the zoo said, the last Jaguar cubs born at the Ellen Trout Zoo were in 1996 when there was a litter of three.
