Biggest cat collection

M

mr.felidae

Well-Known Member
Hi, i work in the UK and am looking at coming over to the states to do an 'internship' working with cats.

Can anyone tell me which zoo has the biggest, best and most diverse collection of cat species please...

Mnay thanks :)
 
Cincinnati Zoo is my pick for cats:
White African lion
White tiger
Malayan tiger (female just had cubs)
Snow leopard
Cheetah
Clouded leopard
Bobcat
Canadian lynx
Eurasian lynx
Siberian lynx
Brazilian ocelot
Margay
Pampas cat
Geoffroys cat
Serval
Caracal
Sand cat
Black foot cat
Fishing cat
Pallas cat
I saw most if not all of these species when I visited a year ago. In my opinion Cincy has the most extensive cat collection in any U.S. zoo. Places like Big Cat rescue in Tampa or Feline Conservation center in Rosamond, CA also have nice collections but are not zoo's.
 
Cincinnati Zoo definatly has the best collection of cats but an intern position would be extremely hard to get. Big Cat Rescue usually hires a handfull of interns yearly. They aren't a zoo but they have over 100 cats. You would be working with Siberian and Canada lynx, servals, caracals, bobcats, ocelots, jungle cats, geoffroy’s cat, leopard cats, sand cats, fishing cats, and other exotic animals such as binturongs, civets, cavies, and coatimundi.
Here is their website:
Internship
 
wow an impressive list...thanks for that. i have looked at the big cat rescue centre in florida, but i would rather be in a zoo environment to see how similar working practises etc are...as i have been working in zoos here in englad for the past 5 years
 
san diego have a good range, and better enclosures than the barren, awful cages in cincinnati
 
Cat-Man said:
barren, awful cages in cincinnati
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That is a bit much. They are small and i personally would want larger enclosures but barren and awful they are not. Also, aren't most of San Diegos cats in the cat canyon grottoes and enclosures? These are by no means excellent enclosures either.
 
loxodonta said:
That is a bit much. They are small and i personally would want larger enclosures but barren and awful they are not. Also, aren't most of San Diegos cats in the cat canyon grottoes and enclosures? These are by no means excellent enclosures either.
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Most of the cats are down in the canyon enclosures but all of them are extremely lush and have lots for the cats to climb. None of the cages are that big, but all of them are way better than the tiny cat cages in Cincy. The tigers and jaguars in San Diego are in modernized habitats that are very spacious and also have a lot for the cats to do.
 
i am just interested in the collection with the most diverse range of cat...i am not so fussed about enclosure sizes or what they look like...some of the cats i have worked with over here have been in very small enclosures...
 
BlackRhino said:
Most of the cats are down in the canyon enclosures but all of them are extremely lush and have lots for the cats to climb. None of the cages are that big, but all of them are way better than the tiny cat cages in Cincy. The tigers and jaguars in San Diego are in modernized habitats that are very spacious and also have a lot for the cats to do.
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I am not trying to say Cincy is better or San Diego sucks, what I'm saying is Cincy isn't even close to the worst cat exhibits in an accredited facility. And if you can get experience working with Cincys collection you would have worked with the most diverse cat collection in the U.S. They are also redoing all the cat exhibits in the zoo and building their off-site cat breeding facility which most zoos cannot claim they have. This is starting in the near future.

Also Philly zoo has a decent cat collection:
Amur tiger
White African lion
Amur leopard
Snow leopard
Jaguar
Cheetah
Puma
Fishing cat
Clouded leopard
Canadian Lynx
(they had a single jaguarundi off exhibit but I do not know if its still alive)

As well as Lincoln Park Zoo:
Amur tiger
African lion
Jaguar
Amur Leopard
Persian Leopard (one of the few left in N.A.)
Snow leopard
Puma
Serval
Pallas cat
Serval
Sand cat

and Memphis:
African lion
Sumatran tigers
White tigers
Jaguar
Leopard (unknown subspecies)
Snow leopard
Cheetah
Clouded Leopard
Puma
Caracal
Ocelot

I know that Omaha and St Louis have nice collections as well but I have never visited. Someone else may be able to tell you about their collections.
 
If you are looking for an established internship program, there is NO QUESTION that you need to go to Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in Rosamond, California. Although the caging and facilities are very basic, they probably tie Cincinnati for number of species and they regularly welcome interns from all over the world. Although they are not a traditional zoo, they are open to the public daily. The founder, Joe Maynard, is deeply involved in all areas of captive cat management and may be the world's leading authority on cats in captivity. (I mean, if you ask him what drug and dosage you would use to sedate a puma or almost any other cat, for example, he could tell you off the top of his head).

They have been training college students and zookeepers in short term internships for decades. They have the only jaguarundis on public display in America, plus sand cat, pallas cat, bobcat, canadian & eurasian lynx, geoffroy's cat, margay, serval, and many more. Largest population of fishing cats and amur leopards and north china leopards in America. Just received a young breeding pair of snow leopards. Have a non-breeding pair of white & orange tiger and hope to aquire an SSP breeding pair. Need I continue?

Here is their direct email: cathouse@qnet.com.
 
Arizona Docent said:
If you are looking for an established internship program, there is NO QUESTION that you need to go to Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in Rosamond, California. Although the caging and facilities are very basic, they probably tie Cincinnati for number of species and they regularly welcome interns from all over the world. Although they are not a traditional zoo, they are open to the public daily. The founder, Joe Maynard, is deeply involved in all areas of captive cat management and may be the world's leading authority on cats in captivity. (I mean, if you ask him what drug and dosage you would use to sedate a puma or almost any other cat, for example, he could tell you off the top of his head).

They have been training college students and zookeepers in short term internships for decades. They have the only jaguarundis on public display in America, plus sand cat, pallas cat, bobcat, canadian & eurasian lynx, geoffroy's cat, margay, serval, and many more. Largest population of fishing cats and amur leopards and north china leopards in America. Just received a young breeding pair of snow leopards. Have a non-breeding pair of white & orange tiger and hope to aquire an SSP breeding pair. Need I continue?

Here is their direct email: cathouse@qnet.com.
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I agree. Besides Cincy the have one of the largest and most unique collections in the country.
 
Toronto Zoo has a fair sized collection

clouded leopard
sumatran tiger
african lion
cheetah
cougar
bobcat
caracal lynx
serval
jaguar
siberian tiger
snow leopard
canadian lynx
 
Jungle Cat World in Orillia, Ontario is known for it's collection of cats and other exotics. I haven't been for a number of years and am due for visit!

African Lion
Amur Leopard
Amur Tiger
Snow Leopard
Eurasian Lynx
Fishing Cat
Sand Cat
Bobcat
Ocelot
Serval
Caracal
Jaguar

They also previously had Chinese Leopards, one being from the Toronto Zoo, which previously kept the species.
 
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