The Cats at the Cat Survival Trust

The Cat Survival Trust was formed with the intention of breeding cats in captivity and subsequently releasing them into suitable wild habitat. Although this proved to be the wrong way to proceed, there is still what remains of the breeding collection to be cared for.
At the same time the recession was causing zoos to reduce their collections or even to close down, while the Dangerous Wild Animals Act forced many private collectors in Great Britain to dispose of their animals. Most of these cats would have been slaughtered if other homes could not be found for them.
The Trust tackled these problems in two ways; some of the animals were found homes with more prosperous collections, others came to the Trust to spend the rest of their lives with us in Hertfordshire.
Captive breeding has not entirely ceased; certain cats are continuing to breed as part of studbook programmes designed to ensure genetic diversity among the world’s captive stock. These, coupled with the rescued animals, amount to a total of 41 cats as follows:

Snow Leopards
Tikana (male), now 5 years old, and Tara (female), 6, arrived at the Cat Survival Trust during 1996. Both are on breeding loan and they are living together in complete harmony. In the third week of February 1998 mating was observed for the first time and although snow leopards tend to need several attempts before cubs result we were cautiously optimistic.
They had just moved into the first half of the new Snow Leopard Complex where they are enjoying a larger run and the chance to view their surroundings from a high shelf which is actually the roof of their inside quarters.

Photo: Mark Haysman Cato at ten months old with our Director, Terry Moore

At the end of May 1998 three cubs (1m, 2f) were born. Unfortunately one of the females did not survive beyond a few days but the others did well although Cato (male) received damage to his left eye, probably while playing with his sister, Tammarind. At first it seemed likely that he would lose the eye, but it responded slowly to treatment and he now appears to have regained some sight in that eye although it is still cloudy.
November 1997 saw the arrival of two more snow leopards, this time from Jersey Zoo. They were Stasik, an eighteen year old male who was partially-sighted and his three year old granddaughter, Irena. Both settled well into their temporary quarters and should have been in the new Snow Leopard Complex early in the New Year. They were originally intended to stay with the Trust while Jersey carried out some redevelopment work on their enclosure there. It was later agreed that in view of the age of the male the cats would stay with the Trust indefinitely.
Unfortunately the male died suddenly in the third week of March 1998. Despite a history of minor veterinary problems he had shown no sign that anything was wrong and ate well the day before he died. Next day he had a series of minor fits and then, while the female was being isolated so that he could be given treatment, a major one from which he did not recover. Both Terry Moore and Robert Martin were with him when he died but they were unable to help him.
On November 8th another female arrived to be a companion for Irena. She was Bulgan, a 14-year old who had been living at Banham Zoo. She quickly settled into the new snow leopard complex next to Tara and Tikana. Irena will be introduced to her in the near future.
It is an indication of the inter-relatedness of British snow leopards that Stasik was the maternal grandfather of Tikana, our young male, as well as of Irena (by different daughters), while Bulgan is both Irena's and Tikana's paternal grandmother (by different sons).
The cubs continue to do well; Cato’s eye is improving slowly and he continues to receive treatment for it. Both he and his sister, Tammarind, are extremely friendly although rather heavy as lap-cats!
The first sign of spring this year (2000) was on Feb. 1st, when Tara and Tikana were seen enthusiastically mating again. This went on for some time and we now await results later in the year!

Bobcats
Bob (male) at 26 was our oldest cat and surprised us all when four years ago he fathered kittens. He was the last surviving cat from the very early days of the Trust when it was based in Stevenage. He had come to us from Calgary Zoo via quarantine at Ravensden. He died peacefully on 24th August 1999 having shown no sign that his end was near.
The others live in three single-sex groups because we have no room for any kittens that might otherwise result.
On Saturday, November 28th 1998 Florence, one of our older bobcats, died suddenly. She was seen to be unwell and was isolated for treatment but before anything could be done for her she died. It is believed that she had a heart attack.

Eurasian Lynx
Czar (neutered male) is one of our rescued cats, having begun life as a family pet. He became unmanageable when he grew to adulthood, mainly because of his size and physical strength (he is a very big Siberian lynx!), and this, combined with the requirements of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act, led his owners to find him a new home. He wants to play and does not realise that humans are not strong enough to play with him!
Arriving in December 1997, three male European lynxes from Erkheim Zoo in Germany (which has closed) brought our total for this species to four.
Although Felix was 21 years old, he survived the road journey well. He, Max and Moritz settled into their quarantine quarters where they shared a run for the first time.
Unfortunately the harmonious relationship between the three did not last, and it was found necessary to separate Felix from the two younger cats. He lived on in separate quarters until late October 1998 when he died, apparently from old age.
Recently arrived is Bodie, who had been taken from an unlicenced zoo by the local authority. Notified to us as a female, the cat appears to be another neutered male!

Caracals

Mischa with Robert Martin a few weeks after her arrival

Ear'oles (male) was, for a while, our only caracal. A mate was found for him and four kittens resulted in 1992. One of them was not strong enough to survive, but the other three grew well and are still with us.
Latest arrival among the caracals is Mischa, a three-months old female kitten when she arrived on 20th April 1997. She had been hand-reared from the age of two weeks and remains a very friendly cat, although she now prefers to approach her visitors when she is ready rather than being approached by them.
She has recently been introduced to our younger male, whom she dominates, and on 29th February, 2000 she produced two kittens.
Mother, our old female, died recently. Her age was unknown but she was certainly a teenager and her end was not unexpected.

Fishing Cat
Zachariah (male) came to us with an unfortunate reputation for attacking potential mates, so he has to live alone. True to his species, he enjoys an occasional treat of fish.

Jungle Cats
The three very elderly cats remaining from our old breeding stock are now reduced to two by the death of Jangle (male) in January 1999.
Two refugees from another closed collection brought the total to four, recently reduced to three by the death of another very old cat.

Ocelots
Three ocelots arrived with the Trust about three years ago. They came from Glasgow Zoo. Unfortunately one of them died shortly after its arrival with us; the other two, Lotto, a male and Lotty, a female are still with us and doing well.
Little is known about the two cats, their ages are uncertain and we have no idea which subspecies they are. Many zoo cats are of mixed lineage, and it may be that these are among them.

Leopard Cats
On 8th October, 1998 two male Amur Leopard Cats arrived from Banham Zoo. These are bigger than the leopard cats which lived here a few years ago and have different coat patterns. They resemble miniature fishing cats and are classified as subspecies euptilura. Details of their ages and lineage will not be known intil the full data are received from Banham Zoo, but it is hoped that one of them can be exchanged for a suitable female from another source.

Geoffroy’s Cats
One of the successes of our breeding programme was the large number of Geoffroy’s cats we raised and this continues with the latest arrivals shown in the picture which were born in 1996.
Also still happily with us is Sprogget, our first second-generation Geoffroy’s kitten, born in 1985 and fostered by Liliput, our three-legged domestic female who herself lived to an estimated age of eighteen.
We were very sorry to lose Poppet, a female who had been with us since 1977 and is believed to have been wild-caught. She died peacefully on the last day of September, 1998

Serval
Ess, a seven-year-old male, is the most recent arrival at Welwyn, having come from Chester Zoo on 29th July 1999. He is a very beautifully marked cat and we are hoping to find him a mate in the not-too-distant future.