I have seen two species of cat in the wild: bobcat and iberian lynx. I have photographed one species in the wild: iberian lynx (a blurred photo of the cat lit by flashlight - not very good). Of course the iberian lynx is the most endangered species of cat on earth, so it is ironic that it is the only one I have photographed in the wild.
My next dream trip to search for a rare cat in the wild would be to go to the Aberdares Mountains of Kenya to search for black serval. Don't know if it will ever happen, but that is the dream.
I did have an article a few years ago in a domestic cat magazine called I Love Cats about U.S. wild cat centers.
A cat book is a long-term (lifetime?) project. I want to photograph every species, but getting the last few may require a miracle.
I am also extremely interested in any cats featuring alternate color morphs. I have several black cats, a few white cats, but the holy grail of cat morphs for me would be the "ocelot" form of the asian golden cat.
Any chance that you could post a PDF of your "I Love Cats" (love the magazine name, although I don't actually like domestic cats) article?
Do you know of Jim Sanderson and his work on small cat research and conservation? I saw him lecture once. His organization is: Small Cat Conservation Alliance
I sense that you guys would have a LOT to talk about.
That is very cool that the one wild cat that you have photographed is the world's most endangered...an auspicious start.
Kenya is very doable as a destination. I spent several weeks there collecting giraffe DNA samples. African safaris are expensive relative to other forms of travel, but a prime example of "you get what you pay for". I imagine that servals would be quite challenging to find, although perhaps not if you find someone who knows where to look. I unfortunately have not seen any of the African small cats. I really hope that you find your serval some day.
@DavidBrown - 1) I am a personal friend of Jim Sanderson and am in email contact with him regularly. He is a faculty advisor for the newly formed Wild Cat Conservation Center at the University of Arizona, which is about a mile from my home.
2) The main problem with Aberdares is there are no lodges (in the mountains where I need to go, only in the lowlands where they have the famous Ark lodge). There are only camping facilities, so I would need to hire a local outfitter who could set me up with gear and possibly a researcher who could help me track them. The clearest photo I have seen was from a researcher who was using a rodent distress call which attracted a black serval. The good news is that apparently over half of all servals in the region are black, so it is not that much of a long shot.
@DavidBrown - 1) I am a personal friend of Jim Sanderson and am in email contact with him regularly. He is a faculty advisor for the newly formed Wild Cat Conservation Center at the University of Arizona, which is about a mile from my home.
2) The main problem with Aberdares is there are no lodges (in the mountains where I need to go, only in the lowlands where they have the famous Ark lodge). There are only camping facilities, so I would need to hire a local outfitter who could set me up with gear and possibly a researcher who could help me track them. The clearest photo I have seen was from a researcher who was using a rodent distress call which attracted a black serval. The good news is that apparently over half of all servals in the region are black, so it is not that much of a long shot.
Great to know that you know Jim Sanderson and that there is a new university program dedicated to small cats. I have to admit that I never have given small cats much thought until I started hanging out here and learning from you and others about them and seeing their photos in the galleries. Even virtual zoo visits can be educational.
I'm sure that you will find a way to find the serval and look forward to hopefully seeing the photos on this site some day. Do you have your Iberian lynx photo(s?) posted somewhere here?
