DUNLAP, Calif. (FOX26) — A black jaguar at Project Survival’s Cat Haven died Monday after being bitten by a snake, the second snake bite involving one of the facility’s wild cats this year.
Cat Haven is a wild cat conservation facility in Dunlap.
Executive Director Dale Anderson said staff noticed Samba, a 14-15 year old jaguar born at Project Survival’s Cat Haven, started to favor one leg. Her paw had swollen to nearly twice the size of the other, and staff found puncture wounds on her foot.
“Usually, the big cats don’t have to deal with snake bites because usually they see the snake coming and they run away,” Anderson said.
Samba was sedated and taken to an emergency veterinary clinic, where Anderson said testing indicated she had been envenomated. She began receiving antivenom.
Hours later, Cat Haven said Samba’s heart stopped. Veterinary staff performed chest compressions and administered medication in an effort to save her.
Cat Haven later announced that Samba had died.
(Photo: Courtesy Project Survival’s Cat Haven Facebook.)
The bite came during an unusually busy year for snake encounters at Cat Haven.
“This is our second cat bite this year,” Anderson said. “First time we’ve had two in the one year.”
Anderson said staff have also caught and relocated about 14 snakes away from the cats this year.
“We’re a conservation facility. I don’t want to just kill snakes because they live there,” Anderson said. “We just need to move them to someplace else on the property away from the cats.”
