UPDATED: Sunday, February 17, 2013 -- 6:11 a.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The Milwaukee County Zoo is displaying jaguar cubs for the first time since 1975.

Visitors had only previously been able to watch the three-month old brothers through a web camera. They made their debut on Wednesday.

They are important because they're introducing new genes to the endangered species' captive population. Unlike most zoo babies, their father, Pat, was born in the wild.

He was captured in Central America after being deemed a problem for attacking cattle. He also has a book named after him, "Pat the Great Cat: A Jaguars Journey," which was written by children in Milwaukee and Belize as part of a literacy program.

One cub will be named in a local contest and the other will be named by children from Belize who helped with the book.

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Posted Tuesday, January 8, 2013 -- 7:20 a.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Two jaguar cubs are bringing more than just cooing visitors to Milwaukee's zoo. They're introducing new genes to the endangered species' captive population.

The spotted brothers were born Nov. 13. They don't have official names yet, but zoo keepers are calling them "Dots" and "Gaps," because of markings on their heads.

Their father was born in the wild, which is rare.

Stacey Johnson, coordinator of the jaguar species survival plan for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, says the father's new genes will help sustain the zoo population over next 100 years.

It also helps that both cubs are male. Johnson says zoos currently have more female jaguars than male.

The cubs are still too small for their exhibit. But zoo keepers say they should be ready by early February.