Clouded Leopards » Howletts Wild Animal Park

Originally Posted by Sun Wukong

@docend24: Depends on the species and individuals. Cheetahs, though no "small cats" do seem to do better (including in terms of breeding) in captivity if no larger predators are around.

Originally Posted by Sun Wukong

@docend24: Depends on the species and individuals. Cheetahs, though no "small cats" do seem to do better (including in terms of breeding) in captivity if no larger predators are around.

Originally Posted by johnstoni

I think the aspinall's trick has been to work very closely with individual leopards, and as a result generally have had calmer animals whose individual personalities were well-observed by staff before any introduction was attempted. They also seemed for a while to introduce pairs while still young, to create some familiarity before sexual maturity. I speculate here but there are plenty of photos and accounts of keepers 'playing' with individuals of this species, so it could well be that a few animals hand-reared early on went on to produce cubs which were, along with their parents, consequently far less stressed in a captive environment and less likely to kill mates on introduction. Sounds paradoxical but it could be. There are occasions where hand-rearing produces perfect parents and very calm, manageable animals.