Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Original Cat House Inhabitants

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Just found an online article from the January 1990 issue of International Zoo Yearbook. It is about the redo of the Cincinnati Zoo Carnivore House into the Cat House, reopened in 1985. Cat House is still there with a smaller (but impressive) diversity of cats, although it is set for another makeover.

Here is the original list of species exhibited - boy do I wish I could have gone back then to see marbled cats (the only species on the list I do not have photos of).

caracal
ocelot
fishing cat
jaguarundi
pallas cat
pampas cat
black footed cat
margay
rusty spotted cat
marbled cat
bobcat
siberian lynx
puma
serval
persian leopard
jaguar
snow leopard
clouded leopard

And of course this does not include the cats that were (and still are) held in separate outdoor grottoes - lion, tiger, cheetah. Talk about a cat collection!
 
Last edited:
Cat Species

Cincinnati Zoo cat species. They also had Jungle Cats, Leopard Cats too! I loved the place. I was fortunate to have gone there many times. It even had the lingering cat smell throughout the circular rotunda. I loved it regardless. It was so cool to see all those different species!
 
I remember the different color shades of the jungle cats, and the small leopard cats cute! Saw both the marbled cat and striped cheetah in the renovated cat house! An another AWESOME species they had was the Temminck's Golden Cat!
 
junglejim said:
I remember the different color shades of the jungle cats, and the small leopard cats cute! Saw both the marbled cat and striped cheetah in the renovated cat house! An another AWESOME species they had was the Temminck's Golden Cat!
Click to expand...
I remember the temmick's golden cats and the jungle cats but not the leopard cat's. How long did the Cincy zoo have them?
 
Zooplantman said:
Ed Maruska was a fine Old School zoo director.
Click to expand...
Indeed he was. Brookfield Zoo also had some very good directors in 70's and 80's. Sad doesn't seem to be same caliber of zoo directors today focused on collections. I know much today is pc and conversation issues, and all issues now are bell and whistles of being cash cow to raiding peoples wallets of money in order to justify their means.
 
junglejim said:
I remember the different color shades of the jungle cats, and the small leopard cats cute! Saw both the marbled cat and striped cheetah in the renovated cat house! An another AWESOME species they had was the Temminck's Golden Cat!
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure the cheetahs, including the king (striped) were in a larger yard across from the Cat House, not in the Cat House itself. When I visited the king cheetah had already died but they still had the signage up explaining what a king cheetah is.
 
Arizona Docent said:
I am pretty sure the cheetahs, including the king (striped) were in a larger yard across from the Cat House, not in the Cat House itself. When I visited the king cheetah had already died but they still had the signage up explaining what a king cheetah is.
Click to expand...
I was very fortunate to have seen the King Cheetah in the Cat House, and later was moved into a grassy yard outside the cat house too. Which of course in that yard was difficult to readily see because both of grass, and barriers looking up into exhibit.
 
They had a cheetah INSIDE the Cat House? There are no exhibits big enough for a cheetah. That is dreadful (glad they moved it to the outside yard later).
 
Arizona Docent said:
They had a cheetah INSIDE the Cat House? There are no exhibits big enough for a cheetah. That is dreadful (glad they moved it to the outside yard later).
Click to expand...
Unfortunately ya it wasn't the best housing for that species in what was clouded leopards old exhibit. Pretty much best cheetah could do is lay around lounging without any possiblity of active running around the exclosure. Of course, for any cat love it was tickled pink to be able to see a king cheetah so up close like that. As I'm writing this I'm longing to be able to one day see this wonderful species agian in the future. An another side note how wonderful to see white tigers alive in zoo's.. Though I know white tigers aren't pc to todays standards. Guess us real animal lovers rejoice in seeing real animals for being the special creatures they all are!
 
junglejim said:
Unfortunately ya it wasn't the best housing for that species in what was clouded leopards old exhibit. Pretty much best cheetah could do is lay around lounging without any possiblity of active running around the exclosure. Of course, for any cat love it was tickled pink to be able to see a king cheetah so up close like that. As I'm writing this I'm longing to be able to one day see this wonderful species agian in the future. An another side note how wonderful to see white tigers alive in zoo's.. Though I know white tigers aren't pc to todays standards. Guess us real animal lovers rejoice in seeing real animals for being the special creatures they all are!
Click to expand...
I like white tigers as well, but don't say that too loudly on ZooChat or you will be shot down as a heretic. ;) As for seeing a king cheetah in USA again, it seems unlikely. There was one at the private LEO Conservation Center in Connecticut that closed early this year. Someone in the cheetah SSP told me all the LEO cheetahs (which I presume includes the one king) were moved to Virginia Safari Park. However my attempts to contact them via emial and Facebook Messenger have not received any replies and the times I looked at their Facebook page there was never any mention of a king cheetah (which I would think they would want to promote).
 
I feel about white tigers the same way I feel about bulldogs and reality television: seeing them brings me a personal satisfaction, but with the always-nagging knowledge that they are inherently problematic and ideally shouldn't exist. At least Cincinnati isn't breeding them.

What was the timeline during which the Cat House was keeping cheetahs strictly indoors?
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I feel about white tigers the same way I feel about bulldogs and reality television: seeing them brings me a personal satisfaction, but with the always-nagging knowledge that they are inherently problematic and ideally shouldn't exist. At least Cincinnati isn't breeding them.

What was the timeline during which the Cat House was keeping cheetahs strictly indoors?
Click to expand...
They were kept outside where the wolves are now I don't remember them being in the cat house
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top