Max and Stripes are the youngest big cat residents at ADIWS. We first encountered them in Circus Ponce as tiny, weeks-old, blue-eyed cubs and finally seized them at six months old from a junkyard on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Sadly, one cub had already died, but Max and Stripes survived. Incredibly, this month they are five years old!

These days Max and Stripes are confident and friendly, and will often accompany us as we walk past their Kakato by April Fong Habitat. Gone are the days when they would quickly hide in the undergrowth when humans approached. The boys are almost identical, but Max has the more confident personality, and Stripes is a little shy.