.........Of the four German zoos that have bobcats, I was able to visit three within just a few days......
There are many North American carnivores that I would love to see over here, but which I think it is unlikely will ever make the journey across the North Atlantic: coyotes, fishers, cacomistles, black-footed ferrets.....
You are a lucky man Sooty, I'd love to visit even just one of those collections (The Tierpark) so to do three in a few days makes me green with envy!
Any of those four latter species would do me, fisher or black-footed ferrets would be especially great!
Hello, I love your bobcat kitten picture! I wanted to ask if I could use your photo for inspiration for a sculpture and possible painting for an elementary school in Neosho, MO? Their mascot is a wildcat and they've asked me to create some sculptures and art, and your bobcat picture would be perfect for what I had in mind. Please let me know, I won't use it without your permission.
Hello, I love your bobcat kitten picture! I wanted to ask if I could use your photo for inspiration for a sculpture and possible painting for an elementary school in Neosho, MO? Their mascot is a wildcat and they've asked me to create some sculptures and art, and your bobcat picture would be perfect for what I had in mind. Please let me know, I won't use it without your permission.
Thank you very much; it's very kind of you to be so complimentary. I would be delighted if it might be useful to you as you seek to create artwork; it would be very kind of you if you could post a picture of that artwork when it is completed.
In reading Alecia's message, I noticed, too, that when this picture was first posted I neglected to answer a couple of questions - sorry! Rather late, then....
It's not a great zoo, but it is very good indeed: a couple of slightly dodgy bits (the elephant paddock is not amongst the world's biggest), but a very nice, professional feel to it, attractive parkland - and a great bird collection. The sort of zoo that Germany does so well - and which is all-but-absent from the UK.
No - I've not made it there. It's probably the most notable German zoo that I've not yet seen (with the possible exception of Hodenhagen Safari Park), so I'm sort of holding off on it....
Given that coyotes were in Regent's Park up until 1983, even a relative whippersnapper like me should remember them (although, sadly, I don't!). They must have done reasonably well there: in the three years from 1966 to 1968, 13 were born. Bobcats, meanwhile, have been thinner on the ground: I think the last to be seen in London were a pair that arrived in 1960 (I'm not sure how long they lived for, but they didn't breed).
Bobcats and coyotes are so common here in the USA, both in zoos and in the wild, that it is surprising to hear Europeans lament their rarity. (Of course my favorite zoo Parc Felins in France has them).
In fact it is estimated there are more bobcats in the wild now than when white settlers first arrived in North America. When I worked at the photo lab here in Tucson I regularly had customers coming in with pictures of wild bobcats in their back yard. I have seen them a couple times here myself, as well as a very tolerant bobcat in Yosemite recently. Coyotes live in urban Tucson and I have seen them on city streets. There are lots of unwanted rescue coyotes and bobcats in rehab centers so I imagine if any European zoo really wanted them that they would be easy to acquire.
