Despite what it says that isn't a Banded linsang, actually a Banded palm civet (Hemigalus derbyanus).
Marbled Cats in Zoos
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I would concur. Very blurry footage, but this footage compared to the Bangladesh vid shows a cat with very short tail. Too short even for a Leopard cat, so Fishing cat most likely.
the best view of the Calcutta animal is right near the end of the video, at about 0.33. It is definitely a fishing cat - the shape and posture and gait (as well as the tail length) all are perfect for the species.
The Bangladesh animal is very brightly-coloured compared to most marbled cat photos I've seen. Really beautiful individual.
Since I received the revised cat taxonomy in the mail today (Cat News Special Issue 11), let's see what it has to say about marbled cat. There are two distinct subspecies, one in mainland SE Asia (north of Isthmus of Kra in peninsular Malaysia). This is P.m. longicaudata. "Distinguishing characters: Rich to pale ochreous brown, limited blotch-like markings." The other is on peninsular Malaysia (south of Isthmus of Kra) and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. This is P.m. marmorata. "Distinguishing characters: Greyer with large distinct blotches." Further notes indicate that the Sumatran form (greyer) and Bornean form (browner) may be distinct subspecies. An even more surprising note is that the two main subspecies listed (longicaudata and marmorata) need further investigation and could possibly be two distinct species!
seaofdreams
New Member
The Marbled Cat's history in captivity is something of an enigma. Over at StoneCat.org we've been trying to piece together their history in captivity and were shocked to discover that 1. The Los Angeles Zoo seemed to abandon their breeding program in the early 90's with no explanation -- or description of where their population were sent to after the closure! 2. They receives their Bornean Marbled Cats from San Diego's Botanical Garden which had housed them previously. Also, there was a pair of them at the turn of the century in New York City. See the attached photos for more information:
One of the reasons we've chosen to put the Marbled Cat under the spotlight is because they seem to be one of the most overlooked species of small wildcats (both in the wild but also even more critically is their nearly complete lack of conservation breeding initiatives in captivity today. Other than the aforementioned Al Bustan Zoological centre there's seemingly no other population of Marbled Cats in captivity. After being on the ground in Sumatra and Borneo tracking Marbled cats it was immediately apparent that their population is distributed in very low numbers and also that even their most 'intact' habitats are barely hanging on in the face of rampant Oil Palm deforestation. We found more Clouded Leopards than we did Marbled Cat. Perhaps it's time to petition TAG or EFBC's Feline Conservation Center to place more emphasis on protecting this species from extinction and starting a captive breeding program to save them before it's too late.
One of the reasons we've chosen to put the Marbled Cat under the spotlight is because they seem to be one of the most overlooked species of small wildcats (both in the wild but also even more critically is their nearly complete lack of conservation breeding initiatives in captivity today. Other than the aforementioned Al Bustan Zoological centre there's seemingly no other population of Marbled Cats in captivity. After being on the ground in Sumatra and Borneo tracking Marbled cats it was immediately apparent that their population is distributed in very low numbers and also that even their most 'intact' habitats are barely hanging on in the face of rampant Oil Palm deforestation. We found more Clouded Leopards than we did Marbled Cat. Perhaps it's time to petition TAG or EFBC's Feline Conservation Center to place more emphasis on protecting this species from extinction and starting a captive breeding program to save them before it's too late.
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@seaofdreams - First, welcome to ZooChat. Second, thanks for your research and input. A LOT of us on ZooChat would love to see marbled cats in captivity. However if you know anything about the AZA (under which the Felid TAG falls), they are reducing the number of species holdings, not adding new ones. Petitioning them would be completely futile. I am sure EFBC would love to have some and almost certainly would if they were available. But there is simply no place to source them from.
@seaofdreams - Also one small correction. You state the cats from Los Angeles were previously held at San Diego Botanical Gardens. However if you look at the caption on your screen shot it says San Diego Zoological Gardens (aka San Diego Zoo).
Looking how Indonesian zoos have stepped up their engagement with conservation, why having a breeding programme in North America. Wouldn't this be an ideal species to be picked up by the conservation minded zoos of the range countries.
Regarding the marbled cats at Los Angeles, the following may be of interest:-
According to “Longevity of Mammals in Captivity from the Living Collections of the World” (Richard Weigl; 2005) the longevity record for a captive marbled cat is thirteen years and five months for a male born in Los Angeles on 23rd August 1976.
This animal was sent from LA to Cincinnati Zoo, then to Lincoln Park Zoo and was subsequently returned to Cincinnati where it died on 31st January 1990.
Another snippet of information that may be of interest:-
In his book "Wild Animals In and Out of the Zoo" (Smithsonian Scientific Series; circa 1930) William Mann records that the National Zoo acquired a marbled cat, a flat-headed cat and clouded leopard for the combined cost of only $65. The same book records that the zoo exhibited two marbled cats in total and the longevity record for the species was only 9 months.
According to “Longevity of Mammals in Captivity from the Living Collections of the World” (Richard Weigl; 2005) the longevity record for a captive marbled cat is thirteen years and five months for a male born in Los Angeles on 23rd August 1976.
This animal was sent from LA to Cincinnati Zoo, then to Lincoln Park Zoo and was subsequently returned to Cincinnati where it died on 31st January 1990.
Another snippet of information that may be of interest:-
In his book "Wild Animals In and Out of the Zoo" (Smithsonian Scientific Series; circa 1930) William Mann records that the National Zoo acquired a marbled cat, a flat-headed cat and clouded leopard for the combined cost of only $65. The same book records that the zoo exhibited two marbled cats in total and the longevity record for the species was only 9 months.
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A marbled cat must be kept in the exotic park in Moscow.
This Woman Was Stopped By Customs At The Airport. You Won’t Believe What Was In Her Bag.
Is the marbled cat still kept there and where did the traveler get the marbled cat from?
This Woman Was Stopped By Customs At The Airport. You Won’t Believe What Was In Her Bag.
Is the marbled cat still kept there and where did the traveler get the marbled cat from?
The link above is a direct repost of the article which originally appears here in Daily Mail: Russian customs catch woman trying to smuggle 108 exotic animals | Daily Mail Online. It is dated today (May 7, 2017) so we can assume the marbled cat is still there? Is the Moscow Exotic Park the same as Moscow Zoo?
To answer my own question, apparently not the same as Moscow Zoo. This page Exotic Park - a private zoo in Moscow Region | Фотобанк ГеоФото/GeoPhoto | GetImages Group describes it as "a private zoo in Moscow region." The photos just show closeups of the animals but sadly with brick walls behind and they appear to all be in bland, indoor cages.
here's the Zoochat thread from the time of the original article: Smuggled animals found in suitcase in Russia
while looking at some other stuff on the Shitesh Babu Zoo I discovered that this is the zoo where a white fishing cat ended up in 2010. The following short documentary from Youtube shows it from minute 4.03. The video was uploaded in December 2015 but I'm not sure how long ago it was filmed. I think it is older than 2015 though, probably actually from 2010 or close to it. It looks pretty unpleasant.
The white fishing cat was previously mentioned on Zoochat in 2011 in this thread: Mutations (on either side of post #73). I'd bet it is dead by now though.
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Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Gosh! It's the most horrendous zoo that I've seen in any video ever! However I would die for see these local species, many of them very rarely seen in European zoos. Would be fantastic if some big european zoo like London, Berlin or Prague buy all these poor animals and include them in their own installations.
this video from 2016 shows the fishing cat at several points:
(I know this doesn't have much to do with the thread subject, but the main reason I posted it was because in the first video I linked to there is a shot of two "golden tigers" which, although they looked very leopard cat-like, have very thick tails and I thought they might be marbled cats considering how much the one in the original video - near the start of the thread - looked like a leopard cat. However the second video above also shows these two cats in the same cage with the same label, and they are leopard cats.)
With marbled cat and white fishing cat this might be a worthwhile detour for someone in Asia, even though the zoo is very poor - I was contemplating it while I was over there but didn't have the money.
Pretty sure those *are* leopard cats actually!
yes, I had edited that out a second ago and then made a second post to avoid confusion
If nobody minds me continuing to discuss the zoo's albino fishing cat instead of their marbled cat, I just found a paper on the individual. It turns out that although the cat was "discovered" at the zoo in December 2009 and hence received international attention in 2010 - it had actually been at the zoo for eight years already, having been captured as an adult in August 2001. The authors estimate its age at the time they saw it to be around twelve years old. Which would make it about twenty years old now if it is still alive.
Fig. 1. Albino fishing cat captured in the vicinity of Hail Haor region...
Conversely, this popular article from 2010 says that the fishing cat was a cub rescued six years earlier...
The One-Eyed Hunter and the Albino Fishing Cat
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