Scientists are celebrating the birth of the world's first artificially inseminated jaguar cub - despite its mother eating it just two days later.
Overseen by vets at environmental organisation Mata Ciliar in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the birth is being hailed as a scientific breakthrough capable of helping conserve the wild populations of the endangered big cats.
While the little jaguar's grizzly end might have put a slight dampener on things, experts have not regarded the death as a set back.
They claimed it is "not uncommon for this to happen, both in captivity and in nature, especially in the case of carnivores."
The cub was born this year on February 16, 104 days after her mother, a five year old jaguar called Bianca, was successfully inseminated.
Scientists released details of the historic project on Monday after finalising their research.
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The little female jaguar was born "healthy and vigorous" with its mum demonstrating "excellent maternal care" for her newborn on the first day, vets said.
Samuel Nunes, spokesperson for Mata Ciliar, said: “Unfortunately after two days the cub died.
"We don’t know why and cannot say if it was killed by the mother because it was not seen on the monitors on the second day.
“Bianca was a first time mother and this may have influenced the outcome of the event. The veterinary team could not conduct a necropsy because the baby had already been eaten.”
The historic birth and the process leading up to its conception were captured on video.
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The film shows vets sedating a healthy mature male, extracting fresh semen, analysing the sperm in the lab, inserting the selected reproductive cells into the female and carrying out ultrasound scans.
The Mata Ciliar project has been going on since 2017 and was developed in partnership with scientists at the Centre for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife in Cincinatti.
Bianca was one of five female jaguars chosen to participate in the project based on their good health, age, suitability for reproduction and favourable behaviour.
Professor Paz of FUMG’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine explained: “Over the past few years we have made several attempts at artificial insemination with the females, but they have not worked.
“But in November last year we achieved a positive result.”
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Just over three months later, the live birth of the single cub was captured on CCTV and shows the doting mother caring for her newborn which snuggles up to her and feeds.
Dr Bill Swanson, a researcher at CREW said: “The jaguar is the last of the seven species of large-sized felines to undergo artificial insemination (AI).
“The birth of this cub is an important historical landmark. It invigorates the possibility of the use of assisted reproduction as a management tool that increases the genetic variability of (captive and wild) populations and the conservation of these endangered iconic cats.”
