Felids not in the UK

Probably been mentioned somewhere else before , but at one time John Aspinall had both Marbled cats and African Golden cats in his collection . The Marbled cats were allegedly very elusive - can anybody remember seeing one ?
 
I would vouch for both marbled and flat-headed cats - to compliment the current surge in clouded leopard breeding in Europe/UK.

This would compliment the overall S.E. Asia theme and provide urgency for the diverse and vast nos. of wildlife facing deforestation in that region (as do Malayan tapirs, Sumatran rhinos, Sumatran tigers, babirusa, anoa and orangs and various langur spp.). :cool:
 
Bele said:
Probably been mentioned somewhere else before , but at one time John Aspinall had both Marbled cats and African Golden cats in his collection . The Marbled cats were allegedly very elusive - can anybody remember seeing one ?
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I was once lucky enough to be taken “behind the scenes” at Howletts to see a marbled cat that was off-exhibit; I never actually saw one when they were officially on display. (The only other zoo where I’ve seen marbled cat is Los Angeles, many years ago.)

Port Lympne is the only zoo where I have ever seen African golden cats.
 
I was told by someone the other day that there are some captive Bay cats on an island in Indonesia, owned by a rich man
 
mr.felidae said:
I was told by someone the other day that there are some captive Bay cats on an island in Indonesia, owned by a rich man
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This seems extremely unlikely, but anything is possible. Was the someone who told you a reliable source or just hearsay? Seems more likely this "rich man" might have golden cats, which look very similar to bay cats and are in the same genus (Catopuma).
 
If a world known small cat expert who has seen and photographed this species can be counted a reliable source then yes!
 
well not hard to guess who the source was then - I'm not sure why you didn't just name him - but "there are some captive Bay cats on an island in Indonesia, owned by a rich man" is just a bit too vague for my liking
 
I think there is only one source who fits that description and I know he was going to be at a cat specializing zoo in France on Saturday. Is that where you saw him? If so, did he give any specifics, such as what this "rich man" is doing with them? (I mean are there more than one, and if so are they trying to breed, or is it just a pet?)

The bay cat is the least known and most seldom seen cat species in the world and if someone actually does have one or more in captivity, this is HUGE NEWS.
 
mr.felidae said:
I was told by someone the other day that there are some captive Bay cats on an island in Indonesia, owned by a rich man.....

If a world known small cat expert who has seen and photographed this species can be counted a reliable source then yes!.....

I dont know any more than that, its just interesting to know that there are some
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I'm sorry, you were told "there are some captive Bay cats on an island in Indonesia, owned by a rich man" and that's all you know?! You didn't even ask what island in Indonesia, how many cats, has he seen them himself personally.....nothing?
 
Bele said:
Probably been mentioned somewhere else before , but at one time John Aspinall had both Marbled cats and African Golden cats in his collection . The Marbled cats were allegedly very elusive - can anybody remember seeing one ?
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Yes, there were one marbled cat pacing the fence in the 'off exhibit' cages behind what is now the serval enclosure. The original serval enclosure (by the clouded leopards) was located just to the right of these cages. It was smaller and sleeker than a leopard cat, with a smaller head and different markings to that of an ocelot or desert cat. It was larger than a rusty spotted cat. This was I think in the late 1980s, but I went to Howlett's alot, it could have been later than this.

The African Golden cats were often on show at Port Lympne, either in the large cage opposite some servals at the bottom of the hill just after the bison and before the water buffalo (later held lynx, not sure what is there now), or in one of the small cat runs, next to the rusty spotted cats (where the caracal often are) just below the malayan tapir paddocks. I could be imagining this, but I was sure they held 2.1, and that one of these was a melanistic animal. I think it might have just been the guide book illustration that makes me think this. At one point Port Lympne held both African and Temmink's golden cats.
 
Bumping this quite interesting thread....

johnstoni said:
Yes, there were one marbled cat pacing the fence in the 'off exhibit' cages behind what is now the serval enclosure. The original serval enclosure (by the clouded leopards) was located just to the right of these cages. It was smaller and sleeker than a leopard cat, with a smaller head and different markings to that of an ocelot or desert cat. It was larger than a rusty spotted cat. This was I think in the late 1980s, but I went to Howlett's alot, it could have been later than this.

The African Golden cats were often on show at Port Lympne, either in the large cage opposite some servals at the bottom of the hill just after the bison and before the water buffalo (later held lynx, not sure what is there now), or in one of the small cat runs, next to the rusty spotted cats (where the caracal often are) just below the malayan tapir paddocks. I could be imagining this, but I was sure they held 2.1, and that one of these was a melanistic animal. I think it might have just been the guide book illustration that makes me think this. At one point Port Lympne held both African and Temmink's golden cats.
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Shame that no photos of either species at the Aspinall parks have surfaced on here... if the African Golden Cats were often on-show, one would have thought someone on here would have taken at least one photo!
 
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