Is there any other way to view the clouded leopards? How the hell is anyone supposed to see one? I'm all for hiding opportunities in great zoo exhibits, but Howletts continues to have animals in almost unphotogenic situations. However, the breeding record there belittles and swats away any criticisms of the park.
The zoo was built by John Aspinall as Animals always come first and very happily that is still one of the main principles still on going in the zoo.
If the animal likes it, it gets it! in this case Plenty of climbing oppurtunities,away from the public and noise, its a superb enclosure
Now this cage has probably a very similar floor area to that of the RSCC's, and is not a lot taller. The only thing better about this is the more climbing structures, and possibly the plants, but the one at RSCC had plenty of privacy in other ways and it still had plants.
The RSCC enclosure is taller than you think am i right Ashley H?
From what ive heard its about 2/3 as tall as this the photo was taken from a difficult angle to get a right perspective.
If you count the wooden beams on the front side of the cage, then the one at RSCC comes to about the same height the last one before the roof. So yes, about 2/3 the height. I did say the RSCC pic I took was from above and far back.
@ Snowleopard: You`re right, I found it virtually impossible to see a clouded leopard in Howletts. You need lots of luck and even then, it`s not possible to take pictures. Without Howlett`s breeding sucess, this species would be most likely lost in Europe by now, so at least these cages make it possible to watch the leopards in other zoos, LOL.
I saw them in the late afternoon and they seemed really active, coming right up to the front of the cage, although I'm not sure if any of my pics will come out.
