Look at that fantastic cat exhibit (we all know how I feel about cats).
Well, Snowleopard, you just had to do this to me, didn't you? There are already too many places I want to go that I have neither the time nor the money to go. Now I have to add Tacoma to the list??? How can you be so cruel?
Look at that fantastic cat exhibit (we all know how I feel about cats).
Well, Snowleopard, you just had to do this to me, didn't you? There are already too many places I want to go that I have neither the time nor the money to go. Now I have to add Tacoma to the list??? How can you be so cruel?
Did you see my brief review of Cats of the Canopy on another photo? I was quite impressed with the height and lushness of the exhibit, plus I got to see a whopping 5 clouded leopards. Where else can that happen? Wait until Woodland Park opens its new Sumatran tiger exhibit in a couple of years and then book a flight to the Pacific Northwest!
This photo shows perhaps a quarter of the floor of the exhibit, and all of it is lushly planted. The real key to the enclosure is the height, as the leopards are allowed access to high branches strung around their habitat, and with 8 leopards at the zoo (6 of them are 4 years old or younger) there is an expectation that lots of litters will be produced. Only two other AZA-accredited zoos are breeding clouded leopards in the United States (National and Nashville) and coincidentally those two other zoos also have the best exhibits in the nation as well. However, this brand-new enclosure at Point Defiance could possibly be the best of the lot!
Wow, this is lush. Clouded Leopards are my favourite animals and quite frankly I believe they are under represented in zoo's as a whole, especially in the U.S.A, and I'm shocked that only 3 zoo's in the USA! I believe they should be a staple of every Asian exhibit. Speaking of cloudies, what happened to san diego's the monkey trails + forest tails exhibit?
Wow, this is lush. Clouded Leopards are my favourite animals and quite frankly I believe they are under represented in zoo's as a whole, especially in the U.S.A, and I'm shocked that only 3 zoo's in the USA! I believe they should be a staple of every Asian exhibit. Speaking of cloudies, what happened to san diego's the monkey trails + forest tails exhibit?
There are more than 3 American zoos with clouded leopards, but only 3 AZA-accredited zoos (plus non-accredited and supposedly disappointing Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas) is breeding them. The clouded leopard in San Diego was replaced by a group of lesser spot-nosed guenons.
There are more than 3 American zoos with clouded leopards, but only 3 AZA-accredited zoos (plus non-accredited and supposedly disappointing Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas) is breeding them. The clouded leopard in San Diego was replaced by a group of lesser spot-nosed guenons.
Does anyone know why San Diego took their clouded leopards off exhibit? Those were the only ones in California that I am aware of that were on exhibit at an AZA zoo.
@snowleopard: did you get any pictures of the clouded leopard kittens that you mentioned in your review?
Does anyone know why San Diego took their clouded leopards off exhibit? Those were the only ones in California that I am aware of that were on exhibit at an AZA zoo.
@snowleopard: did you get any pictures of the clouded leopard kittens that you mentioned in your review?
I know that San Diego used to have a clouded leopard in a show within Wegeforth Bowl (near the Reptile House) but now there is still a clouded leopard on exhibit. It can be found in a horrid little metal cage in Urban Jungle (the old Elephant Mesa area).
At Point Defiance Zoo I did not get any photos of either the pair of 3 month-old cats, or the 6 month-old cats, or even the 4 year-old cat...due to the overwhelming crowd in front of the window to the den area. Yet I still saw 5 clouded leopards and I'm not sure that will ever happen at another zoo in my lifetime.
Snowleopard, did you happen to talk to any of the keepers and ask what they thought about the exhibit? Some keepers would have a fit if they had to clean around that much brush.
