Catopuma temminckii tristis (syn. Pardofelis temminckii tristis). Female "Swa-Fai" (approx. 7 yrs.) makes her way through the heavily-planted enclosure at Exmoor Zoo.
Thanks zootiger This was my first visit to Exmoor Zoo, not to mention the first time I'd seen Asian golden cats; and I have to say that they blew me away! Swa-fai is certainly a lovely animal. Getting a good photograph of her though, is -- as has been mentioned elsewhere -- definitely challenging! This is due in no small part to the nature of her enclosure (of which I forgot to take a photo ). Not that I mind such things -- quite the opposite in fact: it just makes it all the more rewarding whenever I do finally come away with a half-decent shot!
They have 1,1 Golden Cat, and have not bred the taxon as yet. The male is held in a neighbouring off-show enclosure I believe. Be great if they did breed though; when this pair was held at Edinburgh in neighbouring enclosures there were encouraging signs that the pair were receptive to one another, but then they were separated in the run-up to the collection going out of the species. I haven't heard any reports of any encouraging signs being noticed at Exmoor so their temporary separation may have damaged chances.
It is a pity that Edinburgh Zoo abandons them Especially when thinking about how difficult to rebuild the pair bond of the golden cats
You're telling me it's even worse when you consider this pair is genetically important and unrelated to one another - and that the CEO of the collection lied to the studbook and his staff about the circumstances regarding the move.