Felids in Australasian Zoos – News, History and Discussion

Apparently Wendy the female Jaguar died in September 1988 according to email I received from Taronga. Ali the Black Jaguar was at Taronga from 1979-1996. I saw that awesome picture of them together in an enclosure in the 1980s. I assume Wendy was mother to Quito (and other cubs?). The lady who emailed me said she was unable to acertain whether Wendy continued to co-inhabit and exhibit with Ali up until her passing. I know Ali was named after Muhammed Ali, but I remember from Darrill Clements great book that he received his name at Taronga when Muhammed visited in 1979? not from Rotterdam Zoo where he came from (assumedly on the same transport as Meta and Nico the Sumatran Tigers). If anyone knows what year Wendy and Ali were born (and where in Wendys term) that would be great (have a burning interest in the life stories of all animals but really interested in wild cats and its always seems unless they are lions, cheetahs, snow leopards or a subspecies of tiger they dont get discussed as often).

 

Yes, Ali was named at Taronga Zoo as a result of the media fanfare that accompanied Muhammed Ali’s visit. He arrived in 1979 from Rotterdam Zoo (where he was born) on the same voyage as the Sumatran tigers, Nico and Meta.

Ali and Wendy produced two cubs (both male) - Quito (born May 1984) and Maya (born September 1987). Given that Wendy died in September 1988, I’d say it’s near certain she was housed with Maya at this time. He was 12 months old and approaching the natural age of dispersal.

I agree. This is probably due to the fact that Jaguar have been phased out of the region’s zoos and any discussions would be in a historical context as opposed to the ongoing discussions generated by the new births and transfers of members of existing species. Due to the bulk of the Jaguar’s history occurring prior to the internet age, there’s also little information online.

That said, I too am greatly interested to learn more their history in our zoos and would welcome any information people can contribute.

 

Inbreeding doesn't mean that each individual animal or the lineage is worthless. Just that it needs new blood to reinvigorate it.

 

Exactly. Consider this: The progeny of two inbred animals that are not related are not themselves inbred.

 

An important milestone for the species in the region. The Wild Cat Conservation Centre has just announced the birth of two kittens from their pair of Caracal. This brings the regional population of caracals to eight individuals across three facilities - Wellington Zoo, Tasmania Zoo and the Wild Cat Conservation Centre.
Source: Wild Cat Conservation Centre Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=547650072828764

 

Hopefully this is the first of many births as part of a successful regional breeding programme.

The two females at Tasmania Zoo are only 13 months old, so a second breeding pair could be formed in a couple of years between one of them and one of these kittens (if a male).

It’s hard to say what Wellington Zoo’s plans are. It appears they only intend to exhibit the species as display only/non breeding, as a male has never been sourced; and they only have one exhibit. The adjoining exhibit contains two ageing Serval, so maybe when they pass it could be a chance to import a male. The two sisters are born 2013, so they still have a few years left to breed.

 

I believe there was a lack of interest in obtaining a male which is a real shame. I did hear some time ago at one of the keeper talks at DDZ wanted to obtain them!

 

Australia now has a pair of Sri Lankan leopard!

Recently, the National Zoo and Aquarium posted an image of their female Sri Lankan leopard on their Facebook page and a few zoo visitors mentioned a male leopard. I then contacted the zoo and they indeed confirmed that the zoo had received a male (Ankesh). He was imported from Zoo Santillana del Mar in Spain.

 

That’s awesome news!

According to this post by the Santillana Zoo, he was born 13/08/2016 and arrived at the National Zoo 11/09/2019 to form a breeding pair:

Security Check

Ankesh was the first Sri Lankan Leopard born at the Santillana Zoo.

 

Brilliant!!

 

I would hope that more zoos within the regional would jump on board with this breeding project?

 

Small Cats in Australasian Zoos

As of April 2020, the zoos in the Australasian region housed three species of small cat – Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), Caracal (Caracal caracal) and Serval (Leptailurus serval)

Servals are by far the most common small cat species. The majority of the older animals came from litters bred at Adelaide Zoo, Auckland Zoo Mogo Wildlife Park and Melbourne Zoo. In 2018, Altina Wildlife Park imported 2.1 Serval from South Africa (the female has since produced a litter and the males moved to Zoodoo), further securing the species. Hunter Valley Zoo also produced two litters last year in approximately March and August. Their pair came from Melbourne Zoo in 2015.

Both caracals (eight individuals) and fishing cats (five individuals) are held in small numbers and the majority of them have been imported from Europe, Singapore or South Africa. Taronga Zoo have tried to pair their fishing cats on several occasions however they have been unsuccessful to date. Apparently, the pair isn’t very compatible as the female (Maew) is the older and more confident animal and the male (Jalur) is quite shy. I am not sure if Hamilton has made any breeding attempts with their fishing cats recently.

In regards to the caracals, two of the three holders house siblings and the Wild Cat Conservation Centre has a handraised unrelated pair which first bred in March 2020. I hope to update the list every so often as more births (hopefully)/deaths occur and I find out more information. The servals still need a bit of work. Mogo and Crocodylus never got back to me so I based their holdings on the most recent information I could find.

Thanks to @Zoofan15 and @Riley for their additional assistance. Corrections and additional information are welcomed and very much appreciated.

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Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)

Hamilton Zoo, New Zealand
1.0 Bandula 00-00-0000 at Port Lympne Animal Park, UK
0.1 Indah 00-06-2013 at Singapore
0.1 Sahaja 00-00-000 at Zoo Ostrava, Czech Republic

Taronga Zoo, Australia
1.0 Jalur 18-01-2015 at Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands
0.1 Maew at 26-03-2012 at Newquay Zoo, UK

Total Fishing Cat Population: 2.3

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Caracal (Caracal caracal)

Tasmania Zoo, Australia
0.1 Magic 00-03-2019 at South African facility
0.1 Mystique 00-03-2019 at South African facility

Wellington Zoo, New Zealand
0.1 Tinka 01-11-2013 at Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark
0.1 Jasiri 01-11-2013 at Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark

Wild Cat Conservation Centre, Australia
1.0 Kato 15-05-2017 at South African facility
0.1 Kaia 22-05-2017 at South African facility
1.0 Kian (Kato x Kaia) 00-03-2020 at Wild Cat Conservation Centre
0.1 Kora (Kato x Kaia) 00-03-2020 at Wild Cat Conservation Centre

Total Caracal Population: 2.6

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Serval (Leptailurus serval)

Adelaide Zoo, Australia
1.0 Maji 04-10-2011 at Melbourne Zoo
0.1 Kali 14-12-2006 at Wellington Zoo

Altina Wildlife Park, Australia
1.0 Hasani (Maji x Kali) 19-12-2015 at Adelaide Zoo
0.1 Layla 30-01-2018 at South African facility.
1.0 Max (Hasani x Layla) 17-08-2019 at Altina Wildlife Park
1.0 Peter (Hasani x Layla) 17-08-2019 at Altina Wildlife Park
0.1 Michelle (Hasani x Layla) 17-08-2019 at Altina Wildlife Park

Auckland Zoo, New Zealand
1.0 Moholo (Sika x Hannelie) 00-00-2005 at Mogo Wildlife Park
0.1 Shani 27-03-2013 at Zoo Boise, USA

Crocodylus Park, Australia
0.0.1 00-00-0000

Darling Downs Zoo, Australia
0.1 Nakawa 20-10-2006 at Mogo Wildlife Park
0.1 Wanda (Amiri x Nia) 04-08-2019 at Hunter Valley Zoo
0.1 Pixie (Amiri x Nia) 04-08-2019 at Hunter Valley Zoo

Gorge Wildlife Park, Australia
1.0 Zuberi (Maji x Kali) 19-12-2015 at Adelaide Zoo

Halls Gap Zoo, Australia
1.0 Hasani 00-00-0000
1.0 Keta (Souda x Ashaki) 02-08-2015 at National Zoo and Aquarium

Hunter Valley Zoo, Australia
1.0 Amiri 00-00-0000
0.1 Nia 00-00-0000
1.0 Sabor (Amiri x Nia) 00-03-2019 at Hunter Valley Zoo
0.1 Cali (Amiri Nia) 00-03-2019 at Hunter Valley Zoo

Mogo Wildlife Park, Australia
0.0 Nuni 00-00-00
0.0 Gundi 00-00-00

National Zoo and Aquarium, Australia
1.0 Souda (Indlozi x Shey) 30-11-2004 at Auckland Zoo
0.1 Ashaki 07-02-2008

Tasmania Zoo, Australia
1.0 Kibuluu 00-00-2015 at National Zoo and Aquarium
1.0 Ekundu 00-00-2015 at National Zoo and Aquarium
0.1 Kijani 00-00-2015 at National Zoo and Aquarium

Wellington Zoo, New Zealand
1.0 Tunde (Kijana x Nkeru) 09-09-2006 at Wellington Zoo
0.1 Shanti (Kijana and Nkeru) 09-09-2006 at Wellington Zoo

Werribee Open Range Zoo, Australia
0.1 Morili 21-12-2008
0.1 Nanki 21-12-2008

Wild Cat Conservation Centre, Australia
1.0 Simba 12-01-2012
1.0 Crunchie 12-01-2012

Zoodoo Zoo, Australia
1.0 Levi 30-01-2018 at South African facility
1.0 Keeno 08-11-2017 at South African facility

Total Serval Population: 18.14.3

 

Come on AU & NZ Zoos, bring in the Rusty-Spotted Cat breeding program!

 

With the way thing are within Aussie zoos we should feel lucky that we have 3 species of small cat here it appears over the years the aim is to phase out to the minimum not add much on top of what we have

 

You're completely right, the way so many species have been phased out completely from the region over the last few decades we are lucky to still have Caracals, Fishing Cats and Servals in Aus/NZ Zoos. And extremely lucky to have the two Sri Lankan Leopards in Canberra (hoping Adelaide etc stay committed to their plans with them too). Its also occured to me in the last couple of years to be grateful that some zoos in the region still have Snow Leopards because ever since 2015/2016 I've felt their place in the regions Zoos is up in question. African Cheetah, African Lions and Sumatran Tigers are the only three felid species/sub-species that seem to have a guaranteed commitment as a whole by Aus-NZ.

I was just having a bit of fun, expressing my desire to see Rusty-Spotted Cats make a place on the conservation radar for our region. But I'd be equally happy to see Asiatic Golden Cats return to the region although I know thats highly unlikely.

 

Maybe something South American too? Jaguarundi and Ocelot have both been held previously.

 

Jaguar would be top of my wish list of cat species to return to Australasian zoos, followed by Temminck’s golden cat.

The Jaguar, a large charismatic cat, would be the main attraction of any South American precinct and a huge drawcard. The melanism gene means that in the eyes of the average visitor (who call them panthers), you’re getting two cats for the price of one! There’s a large captive population in North American zoos, so sourcing them wouldn’t be an issue if the region chose to support it.

Temminck’s golden cat is more my personal preference. I’ll admit they hold little appeal for the average visitor; as like Fishing cats, they’re highly elusive and rarely seen. That said, they compliment the exhibition of the larger Sumatran tiger in any South East Asian precinct as another cat species.

 

I have often wondered why that within Australian zoos only one species of an animal are to be shown of each group of animal as a whole Snow Leopards as the leopard species and Grants zebra as the zebra species and so on, Like now our zoos having the Black and white Ruffed Lemurs but some call for them to be replaced with Red Ruffed why not keep both why does it have to be one or the other why must we keep only Sumatran tigers and not any other pure bred species?

 

I think with the lemurs, it’s that zoos are moving towards these walk through lemur exhibits. They all want to hold Ring-tailed lemurs as these are active and enabling; as well as one of the ruffed species (both critically endangered) for the sake of diversity - you can’t have a walk through lemur exhibit with just one species of lemur. They can’t hold both ruffed species together, otherwise they’d breed with each other, so they have to choose.

I agree it’s a shame there’s not a regional breeding programme for more than one subspecies of tiger. I would have loved to have seen the Siberian tigers. I have to agree with the reasoning that Sumatran tigers are better suited to the Australasian climate than the Siberians though. This could at least partly be behind the lack of interest in Snow leopards (vs Sri Lankan leopards). Melbourne Zoo’s power bill must be astronomical to keep them cool in summer.

 

Yes well aware of not putting two different types of Ruffed Lemurs together but not every zoo has to do this why kick out B/W and replace with another why cant we hold both we have enough zoos here