Best collection of Large Cats both inside/outside the US

J

jaguar78

Well-Known Member
Am interested in getting some feedback on what people think are the best zoos/animals parks with the largest and most diverse collection of large cats. I have seen most zoos east of the Mississippi and would say the largest and most diverse collections would be at

Columbus - cheetahs aren't there but at the wilds affiliated with Columbus
Jacksonville - but no tigers
Omaha - largest collection but exhibits leave something to be desired
Lincoln Park
Bronx
Toronto
St. Louis
Philadelphia
Erie - yes, don't be surprised. They have all of the big five cats
Wichita
 
Ahhh - cats - now you are into my area. You ask for Large Cats, so I am not sure if you are interested in all wild cats or just the big ones. However, the few zoos that have good small cat collections (and very few they are) also have good big cat collections.

Le Parc Des Felins (France) - This is the Promised Land for all cat lovers. They have BY FAR the best cat collection ever assembled on planet earth. And they are in huge natural enclosures - 100% of the cats. Plus multiple subspecies - (4 different kinds of tigers, each in their own enclosure, 4 different kinds of leopards - I mean subspecies of common leopard, not counting other kinds they have like snow leopard and clouded leopard). If you are a cat lover, you MUST get to France some day. About an hour east of Paris.

The Living Desert (California, USA) - One of my favorites. Mostly good exhibits (and a couple so-so) for cheetah, leopard, jaguar, puma, serval, sand cat, arabian wild cat, bobcat, caracal.

Memphis Zoo (Tennesse, USA) - Another favorite, not just for cats but a great all around zoo - one of the most underrated in the country. A circular cat loop with natural exhibits for tiger, black jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, caracal, lion, cheetah, ocelot, puma. The tigers alternate between sumatran and indian, the latter featuring all three color morphs (orange, white, golden tabby).

Cincinnati Zoo (Ohio, USA) - Collection is not as strong as when they had the old Cat House (which reopens later this month as Night Hunters). But still very strong, two kinds of tiger (white indian and malayan), white lion, cheetah, new puma and snow leopard opening this summer, plus a few small cats in Night Hunters (I forget which ones). Maybe also bobcats in childrens zoo?

Nashville Zoo (Tennesse, USA) - Not a huge cat collection, but THE PLACE to go in the states for clouded leopard. Also an excellent tiger exhibit and an excellent puma exhibit. Eurasian lynx exhibit is a bit small, but featured (as of two years ago) a typical lynx and a white lynx together. This is reason enough for any cat fanatic to visit.

Exotic Feline Breeding Compound (California, USA) - The enclosures are not much to look at, but the collection is probably the best in the states. This is the country's leading breeder of some cats. And they are not a roadside breeding farm, they are a professional facility that only works with accredited zoos. Specialty is leopards, with the largest population of amur leopards and north china leopards in the states. Recently imported a persian leopard to pair with the one they had to try to restart that program. Also house only jaguarundis on public display in America. Geoffroys cat, serval, canadian and eurasian lynx, bobcat, puma, tiger, several jaguars (both black and typical) and more.

Project Survival Cat Haven (California, USA) - Mostly big cats, tiger, black and typical leopard, cheetah, lion, clouded leopard, bobcat, caracal, jaguar. The two jaguars were imported from Latin America (maybe Guatemala?) and recently produced cubs.
 
I know I stray a little bit off the topic (large cats), but Dortmund Zoo has a remarkable collection of carnivores and cats, especially smaller ones:

Amur Cat
European Lynx
Serval

Margay
Oncilla
Ocelot
Jaguarundi

Clouded Leopard
Amur Leopard
Jaguar
Lion
Sumatran Tiger
Malayan Tiger

(Cheetahs left a few years ago and were replaced by the Servals)

The enclosures for Serval, Clouded Leopard and European Lynx are especially good, the Amur Leopard enclosure is in the process of reconstruction and extension.

Regarding other zoos, of course Tierpark Berlin comes to mind, with a huge collection of large cats, some of the enclosures leave a lot to desire although...
 
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Arizona Docent said:
Ahhh - cats - now you are into my area. You ask for Large Cats, so I am not sure if you are interested in all wild cats or just the big ones. However, the few zoos that have good small cat collections (and very few they are) also have good big cat collections.

Le Parc Des Felins (France) - This is the Promised Land for all cat lovers. They have BY FAR the best cat collection ever assembled on planet earth. And they are in huge natural enclosures - 100% of the cats. Plus multiple subspecies - (4 different kinds of tigers, each in their own enclosure, 4 different kinds of leopards - I mean subspecies of common leopard, not counting other kinds they have like snow leopard and clouded leopard). If you are a cat lover, you MUST get to France some day. About an hour east of Paris.

The Living Desert (California, USA) - One of my favorites. Mostly good exhibits (and a couple so-so) for cheetah, leopard, jaguar, puma, serval, sand cat, arabian wild cat, bobcat, caracal.

Memphis Zoo (Tennesse, USA) - Another favorite, not just for cats but a great all around zoo - one of the most underrated in the country. A circular cat loop with natural exhibits for tiger, black jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, caracal, lion, cheetah, ocelot, puma. The tigers alternate between sumatran and indian, the latter featuring all three color morphs (orange, white, golden tabby).

Cincinnati Zoo (Ohio, USA) - Collection is not as strong as when they had the old Cat House (which reopens later this month as Night Hunters). But still very strong, two kinds of tiger (white indian and malayan), white lion, cheetah, new puma and snow leopard opening this summer, plus a few small cats in Night Hunters (I forget which ones). Maybe also bobcats in childrens zoo?

Nashville Zoo (Tennesse, USA) - Not a huge cat collection, but THE PLACE to go in the states for clouded leopard. Also an excellent tiger exhibit and an excellent puma exhibit. Eurasian lynx exhibit is a bit small, but featured (as of two years ago) a typical lynx and a white lynx together. This is reason enough for any cat fanatic to visit.

Exotic Feline Breeding Compound (California, USA) - The enclosures are not much to look at, but the collection is probably the best in the states. This is the country's leading breeder of some cats. And they are not a roadside breeding farm, they are a professional facility that only works with accredited zoos. Specialty is leopards, with the largest population of amur leopards and north china leopards in the states. Recently imported a persian leopard to pair with the one they had to try to restart that program. Also house only jaguarundis on public display in America. Geoffroys cat, serval, canadian and eurasian lynx, bobcat, puma, tiger, several jaguars (both black and typical) and more.

Project Survival Cat Haven (California, USA) - Mostly big cats, tiger, black and typical leopard, cheetah, lion, clouded leopard, bobcat, caracal, jaguar. The two jaguars were imported from Latin America (maybe Guatemala?) and recently produced cubs.
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sounds like some real interesting places to see cats. The place in France sounds amazing. I hope to get there one day.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Cincinnati Zoo (Ohio, USA) - Collection is not as strong as when they had the old Cat House (which reopens later this month as Night Hunters). But still very strong, two kinds of tiger (white indian and malayan), white lion, cheetah, new puma and snow leopard opening this summer, plus a few small cats in Night Hunters (I forget which ones). Maybe also bobcats in childrens zoo?
Click to expand...

These are the cats that will be exhibited in Night Hunters:

-Pallas' Cat
-Black-footed Cat
-Caracal
-Southern Brazilian Ocelot
-Clouded Leopard
-Arabian Sand Cat
-Fishing Cat

No Bobcats in the Children's Zoo, or Wolf Woods, though.
 
My local Kansas City zoo has a decent collection. Serval, black-footed cat, and leopards in average exhibits, and tigers in a very poor exhibit. However, we have among the best exhibits for both lions and cheetahs in the country.

Omaha has a terrible cat complex with a fantastic collection. Ocelots, servals, and bobcats all in subpar exhibits, as well as a poor one for clouded leopards, and an average one for cheetahs elsewhere on the grounds.

Wichita has very good exhibits for lions, tigers, caracals, as well as poorer ones for pumas, Amur leopards, and jaguars.

Saint Louis has a very good cheetah exhibit. As well a fairly nice pits for lions, tigers, and jaguars. Their exhibits for leopards, pumas, and snow leopards are a little lacking in size but have plenty of verticle space.
 
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Top german zoos in cat things:
- Berlin Tierpark
- Berlin Zoo
- Wuppertal Zoo
- Dortmund Zoo
- Munich Tierpark Hellabrunn
- Stuttgart Wilhelma
- Leipzig Zoo
 
Oklahoma City is quite good.

Lion
Puma
Bobcat
Jaguar
Ocelot
Clouded Leopard
Black Footed Cat
Serval
Caracal
Snow Leopard
Fishing Cat
Sumatran Tiger
Cheetah
 
KCZooFan said:
My local Kansas City zoo has a decent collection. Serval, black-footed cat, and leopards in average exhibits, and tigers in a very poor exhibit. However, we have among the best exhibits for both lions and cheetahs in the country.

Omaha has a terrible cat complex with a fantastic collection. Ocelots, servals, and bobcats all in subpar exhibits, as well as a poor one for clouded leopards, and an average one for cheetahs elsewhere on the grounds.

Wichita has very good exhibits for lions, tigers, caracals, as well as poorer ones for pumas, Amur leopards, and jaguars.

Saint Louis has a very good cheetah exhibit. As well a fairly nice pits for lions, tigers, and jaguars. Their exhibits for leopards, pumas, and snow leopards are a little lacking in size but have plenty of verticle space.
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KC,
I have been to the KC zoo and agree with you that they have alot of the big cats. The leopard exhibit is sub par and can't believe they would not make a more appealing exhibit. The tiger exhibit is one of the worst I have seen. Only thing comparable are some of the road side zoos that should be outlawed. Your lion and cheetah exhibit are excellant.

Omaha cat house is severly lacking and needs to be updated. Even the outdoor exhibits at the cat house are out dated and not visually appealling. I would hope they would update the cat house since they seem to be on the cutting edge with exhibits.

Wichita has a great collection. The lions, tigers exhibits are excellent. the leopard exhibit is ok but is all steel cage. The jaguar exhibit is outdated and small.

St Louis has large exhibits for their cats. The cheetah one is part of the river exhibit and is very good. Large exhibits for the jaguars, lions and tigers. I liked the unique style of the cat exhibits for the mountain lions, snow leopards and leopards. I agree they should be bigger but they are unique and seem somewhat stimulating to the animals.
 
jaguar78 said:
which has the best exhibits and the largest collection?
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At Wuppertal, I like the Siberian Tiger enclosure, it is really quite nice. The lion enclosure is huge, almost too big and a bit wasted for this species. The Cheetahs on the other hand have tiny enclosures (and have never bred...). Medium size cats (like Indian Leopard), have okay, but really too small cages by todays standards and most of the small cat cages are just plain bad.
Leipzigs enclosures for lions and tigers are nice but not very big and the leopard cages are small and ugly.

I have not been to both Berlin's lately, but they used to define the word "boring" in their cat enclosures (and "small" on top of that) and probably not much has changed. At least the tigers were always pretty decent although.

You can probably get a pretty good impression from some of the pictures in the gallery.
 
Saro said:
At Wuppertal.....The lion enclosure is huge, almost too big and a bit wasted for this species.
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It's mind-blowingly huge. Does any one know of a bigger zoo enclosure for Lions. It's bigger than at least 2 safari park's enclosures for Lions in the UK.
 
jaguar78 said:
KC,
I have been to the KC zoo and agree with you that they have alot of the big cats. The leopard exhibit is sub par and can't believe they would not make a more appealing exhibit. The tiger exhibit is one of the worst I have seen. Only thing comparable are some of the road side zoos that should be outlawed. Your lion and cheetah exhibit are excellant.

Omaha cat house is severly lacking and needs to be updated. Even the outdoor exhibits at the cat house are out dated and not visually appealling. I would hope they would update the cat house since they seem to be on the cutting edge with exhibits.

Wichita has a great collection. The lions, tigers exhibits are excellent. the leopard exhibit is ok but is all steel cage. The jaguar exhibit is outdated and small.

St Louis has large exhibits for their cats. The cheetah one is part of the river exhibit and is very good. Large exhibits for the jaguars, lions and tigers. I liked the unique style of the cat exhibits for the mountain lions, snow leopards and leopards. I agree they should be bigger but they are unique and seem somewhat stimulating to the animals.
Click to expand...

Kansas City has plans for better exhibits for both tigers and orangutans in their 2020 master plan. The leopard exhibit is not large, but shaded and with climbing opportunities, so I would consider it just average.

Omaha has plans to demolish the cat complex. Here is their master plan: http://www.ketv.com/download/2010/0604/23793626.pdf
 
jbnbsn99 said:
I thought they were next to the ocelots. ISIS says they have 0.1.
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Of course I was there in September, things can change a lot in 9 months.

In any case, I didn't see one, for sure, but that is not to say that it wasn't there. However, I thought I had noted everything down carefully in the Cat Forest, regardless of whether I saw it or just saw its exhibit...
 
You've been there since I have so your memory may be better than mine is.
 
These were the 12 species (posted below) that I saw in 2008 and I don't recall ever reading that Oklahoma City has an on-exhibit clouded leopard. The zoo's cats are all in decent exhibits, and the zoo is one of the better ones in North America.

Lion
Puma
Bobcat
Jaguar
Ocelot
Black Footed Cat
Serval
Caracal
Snow Leopard
Fishing Cat
Sumatran Tiger
Cheetah
 
snowleopard said:
These were the 12 species (posted below) that I saw in 2008 and I don't recall ever reading that Oklahoma City has an on-exhibit clouded leopard. The zoo's cats are all in decent exhibits, and the zoo is one of the better ones in North America.

Lion
Puma
Bobcat
Jaguar
Ocelot
Black Footed Cat
Serval
Caracal
Snow Leopard
Fishing Cat
Sumatran Tiger
Cheetah
Click to expand...

This list matches mine from September 2010.
 
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