Exotic Feline Breeding Compound Exotic Feline Breeding Compound (EFBC)

Earlier this month they imported 4 or 5 sand cats from Estonia and Russia. (Website says 4 and Facebook says 5).

 

A somber note from their Facebook page. The founder of the facility, Joe Maynard, died of cancer last month.

 

A litter of pallas cats and a litter of sand cats were born at the beginning of the year. A second litter of sand cats were born a month ago. Apparently this is the only US facility currently breeding sand cats.

An article quotes one of their lead volunteers, Eric Barkalow. (As an aside, Eric gave a tour to me and several fellow docents a few years ago and it was great). In the article he claims the proposed California high speed rail will be detrimental to their operation.
California High-Speed Rail Plans Cause Concern for Cat Breeding Facility

 

Other facilities are trying to breed them, however they very well could be the only ones successful this far.

 

Yet another litter of sand cats born October 2016.

 

I assume parentage / founder stock is the mix old AZA with new immigrants from Qatar, UAE and perhaps Israel?

 

If you read an earlier post, they imported several from Russia and Estonia a couple years ago. Many years ago they also received (along with a couple other zoos) a founder group that was rescued from the wild during the first Gulf War. Sadly some of this founder group was never allowed to breed due to the holding facility (a rescue sanctuary) deciding they were anti-zoo and anti-breeding and so they refused to release the cats as they originally promised.

 

AD, thanks for pointing this out.

All EAZA / EEP individuals are Arabian sand cat (Felis margarita harrisoni).

 

A litter of four Pallas cats were born March 20, 2017.

 

Pallas'cats bred :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1507521345962364

 

I just uploaded 37 photos from my recent visit to the Feline Conservation Center. The species list is as follows: Malayan Tiger, Amur Leopard, North Chinese Leopard, Persian Leopard (off-exhibit), Snow Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Cougar, Jaguar, Jaguarundi, Serval, Ocelot, Margay, Geoffroy’s Cat, Pallas’ Cat, Jungle Cat, Canada Lynx, Bobcat and Sand Cat.

 

They will be offering evening tours (with advance ticket purchase only) on Saturday, January 20, from 4:30-7:00pm. Cats will be illuminated by red lights (presumably less distracting to them than white lights).

 

I really do need to visit. It sounds like a great facility.

 

From a visitor perspective it's not that great. Very small grounds (maybe 2 acres public area) and lots of small and bare cages. But their breeding record is unsurpassed.

 

I'm aware. But as a fellow cat enthusiast, I am greatly interested in their leopard collection.

Plus, I've been working on a side project that I'm just about ready to properly start.

 

Now I am intrigued!

 

Per my visit this weekend, the following 11 species are on exhibit currently:

Malayan Tiger
Leopard (Amur and North Chinese)
Clouded Leopard
Puma
Jaguar (black)
Serval
Ocelot
Canada Lynx
Bobcat
Sand Cat (7 of them!)
Caracal

I saw all except the tiger (exhibit was being cleaned) and the puma.

The cat list on their website appears to have not been updated at all since 2019, so both the individuals and species on display can't be gleaned from that at all.

 

Thanks for the updated (and depleted) list. Here is the species list when I visited in July 2017:

18 species:
Malayan Tiger
Amur Leopard
North Chinese Leopard
Persian Leopard (off-exhibit)
Snow Leopard
Clouded Leopard
Cougar
Jaguar
Jaguarundi
Serval
Ocelot
Margay
Geoffroy’s Cat
Pallas’ Cat
Jungle Cat
Canada Lynx
Bobcat
Sand Cat

 

EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center announced that they are permanently closed to the public as of February 10th and will permanently close soon. All cats are in the process of being relocated to other facilities.