Jaguar Cubs at the Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo's jaguar cubs made their official debut yesterday, and today I went to see them. They are adorable, of course. All three snoozed for a while first, then got to work attacking each other, their mom, sticks, and anything else of interest.It's difficult to take pictures through glass. Reflections obscure the view and the thick glass gives everything a green tinge. I've made an assortment of color and contract adjustments to get these images closer to what I saw live. I've been looking forward to drawing or painting these cubs and I'll be using my photos for reference. I may go back to the zoo with watercolor or colored pencils to work on getting a more accurate sense of the color so that when I paint them I'll get it right. I'll still be limited to looking at them through glass, but the colors won't be filtered by the camera.It's delightful to have so many youngsters at the zoo this year. The snow leopard cubs are looking pretty grown up, but we've also got lion cubs, jaguar cubs, sloth bear cubs, Asian small-clawed otter pups, a tree kangaroo joey, and at least one more youngster on the way that I know of. It's particularly exciting to see endangered species get a few more individuals. I want future generations to live in a world with all these glorious animals, too!