Good Exhibits for the "Other" Big Cats

KCZooFan

KCZooFan

Well-Known Member
We all know what the good lion and tiger exhibits are. But what about for other big cats? Are there any outstanding exhibits for jaguars, leopards, pumas, snow leopards, cheetahs, or clouded leopards? I've seen pretty good ones at the Kansas City and National zoos for cheetahs and clouded leopards, respectivly.
 
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Chester have a nice set up for their Jaguars, quite a lot more extravagant than for any of the other cat species displayed. The Aspinall parks do well with climbing structures, size and seclusion but I wouldn't rate them as outstanding, just very good for the animals needs... ;)
 
Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has a really good jaguar habitat. The jaguar exhibits at the Sacramento and San Diego Zoos are also quite good.

The Living Desert in Palm Desert, California has good leopard and puma exhibits.

The best cheetah exhibits that I have seen are at the Cheetah Conservation Center in Namibia where they raise orphaned cheetahs. They have several non-releasable cheetahs in what is essentially a cheetah zoo. They live in an 8 acre exhibit of natural habitat surrounded by a fence. This is probably not what you mean though as it is essentially wild habitat converted to a zoo setting. The Indianapolis Zoo cheetah exhibit is supposedly modeled on the Cheetah Conservation Center; I would be interested in knowing what their exhibit is like.
 
Before they renovated it, Charles Towne Landing's Animal Forest in Charleston, SC, had a wonderful, spacious enclosure for their cougars. I remember it looking like an opening in a forest, sort of like a forest/meadow hybird (and open aired, no mesh tops if I remember, and had a heightened wooden boardwalk-type viewing location). Probably my favorite enclosure to this date for this species, and I recall them having similar enclosures for black bears, bobcats and when they had them, wolves, grey and red foxes and raccoons.

When they did the renos, they gave the cougars a smaller, more standard puma enclsoure (as they also did with their black bears and if I remember from my latest visit last September, the bobcats as well). A step back in my eyes :( I do have old pictures of some cougars in their old enclosure I will have to track down and scan.
 
I would like to nominate the cheetah exhibit at Werribee Open Range Zoo. It is a really good exhibit for the two inhabitants and overlooks the Dromedary Camel/Scimitar Horned Oryx exhibit (even if it is geographically incorrect as they have South African cheetah).
 
As for an overall average, cheetahs fare much better than any of the other species mentioned. I am hard pressed to think of a really bad cheetah exhibit anywhere, while I can think of dozens for the other species. As for good exhibits for the other big cats, here are some I know of based on a mix of in-person visits and online images (I will identify if the latter is the case).

First off, Le Parc Des Felins is great for every species of cat, big and small, so I will not bother to list it separately for each cat below. If you love wild cats, just go to France.

CHEETAH - Phoenix Zoo, The Wilds (based on photos), San Diego Safari Park, Saint Louis Zoo, Chester Zoo.

SNOW LEOPARD - Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo (based on photos), Zurich Zoo (based on photos), Kolmarden Wildlife Park (based on photos).

LEOPARD - The Living Desert, Minnesota Zoo (based on photos).

JAGUAR - Saint Louis Zoo, Jacksonville Zoo (based on photos), Woodland Park Zoo (based on photos), Chester Zoo.

PUMA - Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, The Living Desert, Nashville Zoo, Memphis Zoo, Northwest Trek.

CLOUDED LEOPARD - Nashville Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo (based on photos), Point Defiance Zoo (based on photos).
 
Arizona Docent said:
CLOUDED LEOPARD - Nashville Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo (based on photos), Point Defiance Zoo (based on photos).
Click to expand...

The clouded leopard exhibit at the National Zoo is outstanding, as is the fishing cat exhibit. I unfortunately missed their cheetah exhibit so cannot comment on that.
 
Look at Parc des Felines in France. Small and medium cats have open paddocks with grass and trees, surrounded by wire fence and glass. And check lynx forest in Dortmund. Much better than any cage!
 
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