Samba Black Jaguar Snake Bite ended Monday when a 14-15 year old black jaguar died after being bitten by a snake at Project Survival's Cat Haven in Dunlap, Calif. Staff sedated Samba, moved her to an emergency veterinary clinic and started antivenom, but her heart stopped hours later.
Dale Anderson on Samba
Dale Anderson, the executive director, said staff first noticed Samba favoring one leg. Her paw had swollen to nearly twice the size of the other paw, and staff found puncture wounds on her foot.
Veterinary staff performed chest compressions and gave medication in an effort to save her. Cat Haven later announced that Samba had died.
Project Survival's Cat Haven
Samba was born at Project Survival's Cat Haven, which Anderson said had its second snake bite involving one of its wild cats this year. He said, "This is our second cat bite this year," and added, "First time we've had two in the one year."
Anderson said, "Usually, the big cats don't have to deal with snake bites because usually they see the snake coming and they run away," but Samba still suffered a fatal bite. He said staff have caught and relocated about 14 snakes away from the cats this year.
Snakes on the property
Anderson said, "We're a conservation facility. I don't want to just kill snakes because they live there," and, "We just need to move them to someplace else on the property away from the cats." The bite left Cat Haven dealing with its most serious snake encounter this year while staff continue relocating snakes rather than removing them from the property.
The unanswered piece is what kind of snake bit Samba. Cat Haven has said only that testing showed she had been envenomated, and the fact pattern ends there.
