Pair of jaguars added to Miami zoo

MIAMI, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Miami Metrozoo is now home to two jaguars that underwent physical exams prior to being welcomed to their $50 million exhibit home, a zoo official says.

Zoo Communications Director Ron Magill said the female and male jaguars, named Reina and Palenque, each passed their physical examinations this week and had identifying microchips implanted before taking up residence at the zoo, The Miami Herald said Thursday.

The two animals were placed in the zoo's new 27-acre exhibit on Wednesday and the large felines will go on display to the public Dec. 6, Magill said.

''The jaguar is the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most dangerous cats in the world," Magill said of the jaguars, which came from sites in Massachusetts and Texas.

The Amazon and Beyond exhibit will include 600 animals from 100 species, the Herald reported.

Zoo officials are hopeful that once the jaguars adapt to life at the Miami zoo, they will breed and help increase the world's population of Panthera onca.