I was wondering if any of the mysterious and rarely seen wild cats are being kept in any zoos or collections in Europe, since some are actually quite commonly housed in Asian zoos. Although I do know that some collections in Europe do contain African golden cats and fishing cats. Does anyone know of any Asiatic golden cats,marbled cats and clouded leopards in european zoos at the moment ? Thank you
Rare wild cats in European zoos/collections
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
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The African golden cat isn't kept in Europe and hadn't been for over two decades.
The Asiatic golden cat is kept at several zoos on the continent.
The clouded leopard is kept by numerous European zoos.
If Russia counts as Europe then the marbled cat is being kept by a private collection and I believe the same might happen in the UK at a future date(?).
Yes my mistake about the African golden cat in European zoos. But I thought that a collection in Italy kept one. Or am I wrong?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Where did you hear about a golden cat in Italy ?
I have no idea if you are wrong.
Maybe there is one in a private collection but I am skeptical about that.
As far as I'm aware this species isn't kept anywhere outside of Africa.
Yes you were right from the beginning about African golden cats in European collections. I'm sorry if I excited you for a moment. I made a mistake about one being kept in an Italian collection since I checked myself online. You're right. However, why aren't they kept more ? Is it that they're expensive, and that they're difficult to house or rarely sold?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
No I wasn't excited really because I was skeptical about the chances.
There are no easy answers to that one apparently but I think the main reason is probably a lack of interest expressed by zoos and possibly the difficulty in sourcing African golden cats.
They never became well established in captivity though they were bred once or twice in Germany in a zoo or private collection which I can't remember the name of.
The last individuals were sent from the German institution I referred to above to the Aspinall parks in the UK where there were apparently attempts to breed them.
Unfortunately the attempts were unsuccessful because the animals had previously been put on contraceptives at the German collection and this had effectively made them sterile.
The last African golden cats in Europe had died of old age by the late 90's / turn of the millennium.
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I agree but the general public and European zoo directors / curators don't.
Anyway it's doubtful if ex-situ would ever be worth doing as they are probably best conserved in-situ in any case.
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Novosibirsk has a pair confiscated by customs iirc and a private collection in Cornwall has also managed to get hold of a pair.
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Novosibirsk has a pair confiscated by customs iirc and a private collection in Cornwall has also managed to get hold of one.
I thought that the latter animals hadn't arrived in the UK yet ?
No, definitely there, has been for a few months.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Do you know if there is likely to be a plan to breed the species ?
Not entirely sure but they are a breeding pair if I remember correctly so there is potential in that sense.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Ah but I mean the individual in the UK private collection ?
Oh sorry I made an error in the original post - both collections have a breeding pair if I remember correctly.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
That's great and I really hope the UK pair do breed and have cubs