Ringtail Cats in Captivity

Paix

Paix

Well-Known Member
Hello all,

I am currently looking into Ringtail Cats (Bassariscus astutus) as a pass time, whilst doing so I realised that only 3 Zoos (Burgers, Frankfurt and Poznan) in Europe keep this species according to Zootierliste, where as the number of American Zoos that keep this species is far greater.

I realise that this species is native to America, and this would be part of the reason why a good number of US Zoos keep them. But, Why are so few kept in Europe?

What is the Ringtail Cats History in Captivity and does the species breed well in Captivity?

Any information, enclosure pictures or stories would be appreciated! :)

Thanks
 
I know Oregon Zoo keeps ringtail cats, but I don't think they breed them
 
In the past they bred very well in Burgers Zoo, but I think the last breeding occured in 2006.....
 
I have read elsewhere (forget where now though :confused:) that Ringtail Cats are unusually hard to breed in Captivity. Thanks for the replies.
 
I would think the fact that ringtails are nocturnal would be a factor. My experience has been that even when they are displayed in nocturnal exhibits, you don't usually see much.

Since they are "my" state mammal, I'll go into tour mode and mention that while nicknamed "the miners' cat" because they were often tamed by miners, they're related to raccoons, coatis and kinkajous, the latter also strictly nocturnal.

Say - has anyone seen an olingo? I didn't know about them until I checked my spelling of kinkajou.
 
Some reasons why ring-tailed cats are not very popular in European collections:

-nocturnal & secretive
-prone to develop stereotypic behaviour
-not very appealing to the majority of visitors
 
Even in the United States Ringtail Cats are not kept frequently or in high numbers. According to ISIS there are only 39 Ringtail Cats (both B.astutus and B.sumichrasti) kept in North America. A lot of those are kept alone or in single gender pairs.They are much more common in southern zoos than in northern zoos. I personally have only seen Ringtail Cats in one zoo. The Cincinnati Zoo keeps a female Central American Ringtail Cat or Cacomistle, (Bassariscus sumichrasti), in their Night House.
 
Sun Wukong said:
Some reasons why ring-tailed cats are not very popular in European collections:

-nocturnal & secretive
-prone to develop stereotypic behaviour
-not very appealing to the majority of visitors
Click to expand...

Huh, you can say what you want about ring-tailed cats what you like, but IF you manage to ever spot one, they ARE cute :p

I agree that they're really hard to make a good exhibit though :(
 
They are a lovely species but the small European population is unlikely to increase very much. After Burgers initial success they have been unable to get any of the offspring to breed. Maybe pair compatability and not being able to reproduce seasonality has something to do with it.
Also they are not recommended in the EAZA collection plan although the Small Carnivore TAG does monitor them. Cacomistle are quite long live, so the few there are will be around for a while and worth going to see if you have the oppotunity.
 
@ Boopashaboopa - I didn't realize there was another Tucsonan on ZooChat (well at least not since Lightinghorse moved to Amarillo, Texas). Nice to have you post here.

The only two places I recall seeing ringtails is Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and The Living Desert. They have always been curled up asleep and I agree they do not make good exhibit animals (cute as they are). Since I don't think they are threatened or endangered, I doubt there would be much of a push for zoos to have them.

I was very lucky when I first moved to Tucson, I did a moonlight tram tour up Sabino Canyon and we actually saw a wild one walking along the road.
 
I frequently saw wild ones in the vicinity of Canyon Lake just east of the Phoenix metro area. Very fun critters.

Phoenix Zoo used to display a pair in the Arizona Trail. The Hogle Zoo currently displays a Central American cacomistle.
 
Cacomixtle are very hardy mammals that even live wild in large wooded areas of Mexico City such as chapultepec park or on the campus of the Universidad nacional autonoma de Mexico. They are rarely seen because of their nocturnal habits. In rural mexico, a cacomixtle is a name given to a person who is good at stealing, since the ringtails are well known as domestic fowl killers. There is a trio of cacomixltes at the Los Coyotes Zoo here in the capital city that are awake when feed at 10 in the morning and hide away the rest of the day.I have not seen any in other zoos in Mexico.
 
Sun Wukong said:
Some reasons why ring-tailed cats are not very popular in European collections:

-nocturnal & secretive
-prone to develop stereotypic behaviour
-not very appealing to the majority of visitors
Click to expand...
is there something about cacomistles that make them more prone to stereotypic behaviour than any other small carnivores in captivity, or is it just caused by poor husbandry that could be an easy fix?
 
I can tell you that as of today, the Zacango Zoo near Toluca Mexico has at least one on display.
 
Now that ringtails are once again being imported into Europe, with about 7 animals being imported in the last 6 years (Burgers' - 2.2.0 - 2015, Exmoor Zoological Park - 1.1.0 - 2018, Hamerton - 1.0.0 - 2019) and 2.1.0 being born in Burgers' this year, I'm interested if anyone has any knowledge of the current American population. If further imports are possible and interest from European zoos remains it might actually be possible to create a stable population in Europe.
 
Jarne said:
Now that ringtails are once again being imported into Europe, with about 7 animals being imported in the last 6 years (Burgers' - 2.2.0 - 2015, Exmoor Zoological Park - 1.1.0 - 2018, Hamerton - 1.0.0 - 2019) and 2.1.0 being born in Burgers' this year, I'm interested if anyone has any knowledge of the current American population. If further imports are possible and interest from European zoos remains it might actually be possible to create a stable population in Europe.
Click to expand...

The American captive population is low afaik. I think Oregon still has them, and ASDM. Other than that I can't think of any other facility with them offhand, though I know there'll be others.
 
The "cacomixtle" as it is known in Mexico is quite a common animal in Mexican zoos as they are a common rescue animal in many cities of the country (they actually often inhabit urban environments).

From memory they are / were kept by several zoos there like : Chapultepec, Los Coyotes, San Juan de Aragon, Guadalajara, Morelia and ZOOMAT.

That said, as other zoochatters have already pointed out this is an animal that is nocturnal, very shy (given the option of a hide it will typically stay in there hidden whenever the public around and never come out), easily stressed and prone to several stereotypical behaviours.

Needless to say, it doesn't make for the best animal in zoos and I really don't think that many zoos (at least in Mexico) house this species or obtain them intentionally. These are often simply rescued animals that cannot be rehabilitated to the wild and for whatever reason get placed in these institutions.
 
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