Study to improve breeding this species : Fishing Cat Study Looks to Improve Breeding Success Rates ( anybody with a list of all keepers / breeders in North America ? )
Thanks for the article link. I am personal friends with the head of Fishing Cat Conservancy (which uses some of my photos in their conservation work) so I have a great interest in this. I am not sure which zoo person is the studbook keeper for fishing cat SSP, but they would be the one to contact for a list. Though I know of at least two (maybe more) facilities outside the SSP with fishing cats. I also learned recently from a private conversation with a zoo staff member that a zoo in the southwest is considering (but not dedicated) to adding fishing cats to their upcoming Asia expansion. I will make a followup post with the zoos I know personally to hold them, but this is only a partial list. If you are really interested you can follow the Felid TAG on Facebook as they post a lot of small cat zoo news.
Those I know (partial list of all USA holders): San Diego Zoo San Francisco Zoo Great Cats World Park Exotic Feline Breeding Compound Memphis Zoo (or they used to) Smithsonian National Zoo Cincinnati Zoo San Antonio Zoo Denver Zoo Hawk Creek Wildlife Center
Also Riverbanks Zoo. Here is a link to the SSP and EEP and studbook coordinators: Fishing Cat Fact Sheet And here is a link to the SSP Facebook page: Fishing Cat SSP
I found a great resource - a clickable map with zoos that have fishing cats! It is worldwide but not quite complete. It does not include private facilities like Hawk Creek (and perhaps several Asian facilities). It also lists one facility in USA (Point Defiance) that does not have them, unless they got them since I visited a year ago. But overall it's a good listing (scroll down the page to the map and click on the arrows). Resources – Fishing Cat Working Group
A bit of a thread bump, but some good news: 2 fishing cat kittens were born at the Greensboro Science Center on April 3.
The map is definitely missing a bunch. -Arnold's Wildlife Rehab Center, FL -Branson's Promised Land Zoo and/or Eureka Springs Safari, MO -Carson Springs, FL -Cohanzick Zoo, NJ -Great Cats World Park, OR -Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, NY -Indian Creek Zoo, MI -Kirshner Wildlife Foundation, CA -Nature Park at Shell Factory, FL -Panther Ridge Conservation Center, FL -Twin Pine Farm & Exotics, SC -Wild Cat Education & Conservation Fund, CA Greater Wynnewood (Joe Exotic), Jo-Don Farms, and Wildlife In Need (Tim Stark) all had fishing cats going into 2020, not sure where any of their animals ended up. Forest Park and Mill Mountain no longer hold the species. Not sure if Nemacolin does or not.
I just had to search Nature Park at Shell Factory, where I found out it is the self-proclaimed world's largest shell factory! Florida still has some cheezy roadside attractions straight out of the 1950's. Needless to say what I saw on their website convinced me I have no need to visit.
I'm most interested in their common palm civet. They also have caracal (haven't seen one in years) and tayra, and several opossum species.
