Safari on Garden Road : in memory of Siu Fa the Jaguar

Siu Fa the Jaguar in Hong Kong 

In memory of the jaguar that had lived in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

I used to walk from home to Admiralty MTR station via the Botanical Gardens several times a week. Every time, I would passed by this jaguar , majestically resting on the rock in his cage.  Now that she had gone,  I would never known if it had a name.   

It did not occur to my younger self that this captivity had robbed this beautiful animal of the chance to run and the chance to capture its own food.  I would just walk briskly passed by his cage; most likely to be late for some appointment.   Later, when I had grown a bit older and had understood a bit more about this world,  I began to pause by his cage and tried to wave at him.   Sometimes I could see her just lying there, looking slightly deflated and bored and other times more energetic and hopeful.  Most of the time, she was no where to be seen.  She has no companion ; there was just her in the cage.  

For about two years,  I lived so close to this jaguar that I could hear his roar every day.  That was when I realised I did not need to go on a safari but I already am in one.  What a beauty !  

A friend had suggested we should go to catch Pokemon in the park last week; and that's when I remembered the jaguar.   I looked her up on the Internet; she has a name !  She was Siu Fa.  Thank you Siu Fa the Jaguar who had been with us in Hong Kong for 20 years.  We love you  ! 

About Siu Fa : Born in Berlin Zoo in Germany in 1987, Siu Fa was sent to the park two years later and had two offspring. Well received by local and overseas visitors, she died of old age last June at the age of 21.

Jag in action

Click this link to see Jag running in fields

Films to see

Born Free

Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, raise Elsa, a lion cub. When Elsa approaches maturity, Joy determines she must re-educate Elsa to living in the wild so that the lioness can return to a free life.