A grand opening will be held this weekend in honor of Emma, a 15.4 pound female ocelot.
The 10-year-old female cat will be the first ocelot to live at the SFCC Teaching Zoo in almost 15 years.
During the grand opening, Guests will get a chance to interact with her in her habitat through a specially designed glass. The opening will be held Oct. 5 to Oct. 7 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Admission is free for the grand opening.
Ocelots, native to Central and South America, are medium-sized jungle cats often described as mini-jaguars.
Emma came from the Oklahoma City Zoo, said Buz Bireline, the SFCC Teaching Zoo's assistant director.
Even though she is the size of a large house cat, she is very interested in being a wild animal, Bireline said.
Part of Emma's training regime is to touch her nose to a target, allowing the zookeepers to view her without having to grab her with a net, Bireline said.
Zoo Director Jack Brown said that ocelots were one of the signature species at the zoo in the past.
He said they have set important milestones for the care of ocelots and look forward to many more generations at the zoo.
A 3-year-old male from a zoo in Victoria, Texas, will be joining the zoo in the coming months to be her mate, according to a SFCC press release.
Because airlines have strict animal-shipping laws, the weather will have to cool down before the male cat can join Emma, Bireline said.
