Best "Cat" collection.

Dawn B

Dawn B

Well-Known Member
Can you folks help? Which would you consider to be the most extensive collection of Cats in a UK Zoo?
 
Howletts Wild Animal Park -
Amur Tiger
Sumatran Tiger
Indian Tiger - Aspinall Tigers
Northern Lynx
Clouded Leopard
North Chinese Leopard
Snow Leopard
Fishing Cat
Pallas Cat
Indian Desert Cat
Serval
Ocelot
Jungle Cat
African Wild Cat

Port Lympne Wild Animal Park
Amur Tiger
Indian Tiger
"Barbary Lion"
Snow Leopard
Clouded Leopard
Rusty-Spotted Cat
African Cheetah
Fishing Cat
Indian Desert Cat
Pallas Cat
Caracal
Margay
Ocelot
Siberian Lynx

Both of these parks house the cats and have more than one enclosure for each for example the tiger enclosure's at Howletts number around 6/7 or so and there are 3 Pallas Cat enclosures at Howletts. They have been hugely succesful at breeding all these cats.

Then onto smaller parks

Dartmoor Zoological Park
Amur Tigers - including 3 hybrids in 2 enclosures
Jaguar
African Lion
Cheetah
Lynx

Paradise Wildlife Park
African Lion - including whites
Hybrid Tiger - including whites
Cheetah
Margay
Ocelot
Jaguar
Snow Leopard
Pallas Cat

Linton Zoo
African Lion - 2 groups
Amur Tiger - including hybrids
African Leopard - including black leopard
Snow Leopard

Banham Zoo
Sri-Lankan Leopard
Serval
Cheetah
Amur Tiger
Ocelot
Snow Leopard

There are some of the best cat collections open to the public - in my eyes. Sorry if ive missed some obvious ones out!
Generally its the smaller parks that house the more cats as the bigger ones tend to have big enclosures eg Spirit of the Jaguar at Chester intended for one species other than the smaller parks that have smaller, less expensive but acceptable enclosure's therefore having more room for more species.
If it was down to me its one of the Aspinall Parks.
 
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I have to agree that Aspinall takes first prize when it comes to this. My local zoo, Marwell, has a fair collection:

Amur Tiger
Amur Leopard
Snow Leopard
Cheetah
Ocelot
Serval
Sand Cat

In the past they have also held Sumatran Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Jaguar, African Leopard, Persian Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Northern Lynx, Caracal Lynx, Leopard Cat and Black-Footed Cat
 
Thanks Zambar - Chester also did hold a great collection having held in their history, not all at the same time though!
African Lion
Bengal Tiger
Amur Tiger
Jaguar
Common Leopard
North Chinese Leoaprd
Black Leopard
Siberian Lynx
Puma
Jaguarundi
Serval
Jungle Cat
Clouded Leopard
Caracal
Leopard Cat
Margay
Geoffrey's Cat
Bobcat
Canadian Lynx
Nothern Lynx

And now they only have
Asiatic Lion
Sumatran Tiger
Jaguar
*Serval
*Cheetah
 
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Dartmoor actually have four hybrid amurs (the fourth is Tasmin, she's next to the wolves) as well as a female cheetah.
 
From what i thought Tazmin was pure she was born at Blackpool to Sheya and Jagasar in 1996. And arrived with Tammy a few years after to be bred with Dartmoor's old male Spa.
Or where they not pure?
Vlad,Blotch and Stripe definately are through Spa's side.
 
Thanks guys, info is much appreciated. Its my intention to visit some of the more exotic cats whilst Im on holiday.
 
Riziki said:
From what i thought Tazmin was pure she was born at Blackpool to Sheya and Jagasar in 1996. And arrived with Tammy a few years after to be bred with Dartmoor's old male Spa.
Or where they not pure?
Vlad,Blotch and Stripe definately are through Spa's side.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure to be honest, and only reminded you of a fourth as you only remembered Vlad, Blotch and Stripe in your original post. I would have assumed with Dartmoor's somewhat turbulent past she would be a hybrid, but if you know different then I am probably wrong.
 
Riziki said:
Chester also did hold a great collection having held in their history..........
Click to expand...

You may be interested to know that Chester also had a pampas cat; a species very rarely seen in zoos.

I saw it, I think, in 1981; I never saw it on any of my subsequent visits.......
 
The RZZS as a whole (Edinburgh zoo & HWP) hold

Asian lion
Sumatran tiger
Amur tiger
jaguar
Amur leopard
Carpathian lynx
Scottish wildcat
Pallas cat
Asian golden cat
margay

Snow leopards are planned at some stage for the HWP, and i believe the Pallas cats will along with the Amur leopards be re homed up north
 
Riziki said:
And now they only have
Asiatic Lion
Sumatran Tiger
Jaguar
*Serval
Click to expand...

You forgot the Cheetahs.

Also, Colchester has a cat collection comparable to some of those already mentioned:

African Lion
"Amur" Tiger
Amur Leopard
Cheetah
Hybrid Tiger (White)
Geoffroy's Cat
Pallas Cat
Margay (possibly now left?)
 
Tim May said:
You may be interested to know that Chester also had a pampas cat; a species very rarely seen in zoos.

I saw it, I think, in 1981; I never saw it on any of my subsequent visits.......
Click to expand...

I remember the pampas cat at Chester , I believe it was one of three males imported by Kilverstone . The collection of S. American cats - and other S. American mammal groups - held by Kilverstone was most impressive .

From memory Kilverstone cats were -

Jaguar
Puma
Ocelot
Margay
Oncilla
Geoffroy's cat
Pampas cat
Jaguarundi

Another UK collection with an impressive cat collection ( mostly smaller species , largest being snow and clouded leopard , puma ) is the RSCC in Kent .
 
Bele said:
From memory Kilverstone cats were -

Jaguar
Puma
Ocelot
Margay
Oncilla
Geoffroy's cat
Pampas cat
Jaguarundi
Click to expand...

Kilverstone was the only place where I’ve ever seen a melanistic Geoffroy’s cat.
 
I was just going to post about the pampas cat at Chester only to see that Bele has already done so. The three males all came from Santiago Zoo but no females could be obtained. I think the Chester cat eventually returned to Kilverstone. He was very elusive and I only ever managed to get one photo, and that was not a very good shot.
 
You forgot the North Chinese leopards at Howletts, and yes Port Lympne does have clouded leopards, in the forest near the bongos.

Hamerton is often overlooked, but still has breeding Jaguarandis, and the only Oncillas in the UK.
 
Shorts said:
You forgot the Cheetahs.

Also, Colchester has a cat collection comparable to some of those already mentioned:

African Lion
"Amur" Tiger
Amur Leopard
Cheetah
Hybrid Tiger (White)
Geoffroy's Cat
Pallas Cat
Margay (possibly now left?)
Click to expand...

I remember when I was younger (late 80's/early 90's) one of Colchester Zoo's selling points in its brochures were that it had one of Europe's biggest cat collects.

Other cats the zoo held include:
Black-Footed Cat
Caracal Lynx
Fishing Cat
Jaguar
Leopard Cat
Ocelot
Snow Leopard
Sand Cat
Black Leopard
 
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