Cat Haven Wild Animal Park Cat Haven news

The above linked article claims that Animal Legal Defense Fund was instrumental in arranging the settlement. According to the Cat Haven Facebook page, this is a blatant lie and the ALDF had nothing to do with the settlement.
 
At 6pm on Thursday, September 3rd, Cat Haven is hosting a free event. It will be a lecture and meet and greet with Ashwin Naidu, cofounder of the Fishing Cat Conservancy. One of their goals is to establish the world's first fishing cat preserve in India, Ashwin's homeland. Donations to the fishing cat conservancy will be accepted. Cat Haven also plans to build a fishing cat habitat on their site, although at the moment they do not have any fishing cats that I know of.

Ashwin has just completed his PhD in ecology at the University of Arizona in my city of Tucson. He is a personal friend of mine (in fact I connected him with Cat Haven) and a dynamic speaker and energetic conservationist. Anyone who is able to attend will thoroughly enjoy it, I guarantee. I will not be there as ironically I will be on vacation in a different part of California.
 
They have just announced on Facebook that the fire department has ordered them to evacuate all staff and animals due to a nearby wildfire.
 
The evacuation order has just been lifted and the owner is returning to assess the damage. Cats are still housed at various facilities but hopefully will return soon. If you want to help, their Facebook page has a link to a site to donate towards evacuation costs.
 
All cats are now back on grounds after the fire evacuation. The facility reopened to the public this weekend.
 
They have just received a pair of two year old female Amur leopards. I am not sure where they came from.

edit: I just found out they came from the Columbus Zoo.
 
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The web site home page has a blurb asking for donations to help with unexpected vet bills (sick cheetah), building two new habitats, and (the reason I am posting this) ..."working to rescue six cats out of Panama."

I have known of this for a little while due to my personal friendship with the park owner. I have not posted anything before now because they have not stated anything publicly until now. Since the blurb does not mention which species I will not either. But I will say I am excited and those who know me know I would be more excited about less common small cats than common big cats. ;)
 
(Based on my visit a few days ago)...

A new small cat habitat has been built along the main entry path (before you enter the gift shop). It currently houses a bobcat but hopes are to acquire a pair of fishing cats for the exhibit.

The future cheetah run area is still being developed but I was given a sneak preview. It is an oval dirt run on a sloped hill. Visitors will be on bleachers on the upper portion (bench material and a low fence were already there but bleachers not built yet). On the lower portion of the slope a small enclosed wooden platform has been built to accommodate wheelchairs.
 
The park has received a three month old black leopard.

(Frustratingly I missed it by a couple days. When I toured Cat Haven with snowleopard on July 7, the park owner was driving back across the country from picking it up).
 
Orange bengal hybrid tiger Kong has passed away. The park now has one tiger, a white bengal hybrid named Diana.

Staff posted a video on Facebook showing they are currently on the road with a pair of clouded leopards for the park. (Video was at a stop in Kansas so I presume the cats are from Tanganyika Wildlife Park). The cats are just shy of three years old, are male and female who have been raised together, so there is a possibility of breeding.
 
Latest Facebook and Twitter post says "something special is coming to Cat Haven". The two photos show a bulldozer paving a new road up a hill. Not sure what it could be - a new path and set of exhibits maybe?
 
A company called ModPools that turns shipping containers into pools with a clear side is donating one to Cat Haven. It will be used as a jaguar pool so that visitors can see the jaguars underwater. It will arrive April 17, but not sure when it will be installed and open for use by the cats. They also note future projects include "tree house at jaguar pool" (but no further details) and three additional small cat habitats (but no hint as to what cats they will house).
 
The park has acquired a female caracal kitten named Inira. It has been several years since they last had caracals. Here is an updated species list:

lion
tiger (both white and orange)
jaguar (both black and yellow)
leopard (generic black)
leopard (amur)
snow loeopard
puma
cheetah
clouded leopard
serval
caracal
bobcat
eurasian lynx
canadian lynx
jaguarundi
pallas' cat
 
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