Beautiful pallas cat arrives in Kent

13th May 2019

An animal whose species is threatened with extinction has found a new home in Kent, it has been announced.

Qara is a two-year-old Pallas Cat who has joined The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden in the hope of being part of a breeding programme.

A spokesperson for the Sanctuary said: “This beautiful girl was born at Zoopark Chomutov in the Czech Republic on 18 March 2017.

“The name Qara translates to “small cloud” in Tibetan and was chosen by the team here at the Sanctuary.

“She is settling in well to her new home, showing her natural crepuscular behaviours by being a lot more active at dawn and dusk, generally when there are fewer people in and around the Sanctuary.”

They added: “We are already home to a male Pallas’s cat, Jethro, who joined us from RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, Kincraig in Scotland in 2015.

“Jethro and Qara are a recommended pair, and we hope to follow this with a recommendation to breed in the not too distance future.”

With over 50 animals, The Big Cat Sanctuary is home to a host of wild cats that include Siberian tigers and snow leopards.

 

Pallas cat numbers are failing to increase.

Beautiful wildcat arrives from Scotland

10th April 2019

An animal whose species are on the brink of extinction has been given a new home near Canterbury.

Finlay is a one-year-old Scottish Wildcat who has joined The Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay as part of a breeding programme.

Marketing manager Dan Farrow, said: “Wildwood has recently welcomed Findlay the Scottish wildcat to the park. He is a male from the Balnagown Estate in Scotland and will be an integral part of a national breeding programme to help conserve this magnificent species.

“He is sharing a home with a female wildcat called Jurer and we’re hoping to hear the patter of tiny paws this spring.

“Findlay is settling in wonderfully and is vocal, feisty and bold – just how a Scottish wildcat should be!”

With less than 100 estimated to be left in the wild, the Scottish Wildcat has been driven to all but extinction as its hybridisation with other cats has left numbers difficult to know.

Native to the Highlands of Scotland, the species is considered no longer viable in the wild, with captivity now its best chance of any long-term survival.

Scottish wildcats are under threat of extinction

National Geographic’s Doug Main says that the species is in crisis as the number of animals left in the wild could actually be less than 50.

He said: “Once found widely throughout Britain, it was hunted and persecuted, and has survived only in remote areas of the Highlands.

“No one knows exactly how many are left, but the wild population is thought to be somewhere between a couple dozen and a couple hundred—with most agreeing that the smaller estimate is the more realistic – some put the exact number around 35.”

Finlay’s addition as part of a breeding programme with six-year-old Jurer could be pivotal to the species surviving, and with a new red squirrel enclosure due to be built at any moment, Wildwood is continuing to play its part in animal conservation.

Photo: Wildwood Facebook

Stunning jaguar arrives at new Kent home

7th December 2018

One of the planet’s most iconic and vulnerable animals has moved to Kent, it has been announced this week.

A seventeen-month-old jaguar called Neron has relocated from Amsterdam to the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden.

He will join over 50 exotic cats including Clouded leopards and Sumatran tigers, benefiting from the park’s tranquil surroundings.

Neron and another female jaguar will have Kent as its new home.

The pair are under a breeding programme which hopes to see baby cubs in the future.

A spokesperson for the Big Cat Sanctuary said: “Neron has transferred to us as part of the European coordinated breeding program. He will be joined by a female Jaguar arriving with us soon in the hope he will sire cubs with her.

“Co-ordinated breeding is to maintain a healthy population in captivity that could ultimately supplement the wild population should it be deemed necessary.”

She added: “The Big Cat Sanctuary is a leading conservation organisation of wild cats in the UK.

“By securing a future for both big and small cats we are conserving and restoring the balance of the ecosystem in which predators play such a vital role.”

With just 15,000 left in the world, protecting endangered and threatened animals like the jaguar, and providing them with care and stability is vital with their population decreasing rapidly.

Neron will join Sumatran tiger, Puna. Photo: Mark Jones

Hugo Rainey, a conservationist for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), says jaguars need protecting.

He said: “Jaguars play critical roles in the structure and function of ecosystems in which they live, and are a vital component of healthy, functioning animal and plant communities.

“In spite of this, jaguar populations are seriously threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, competition with human hunters for wild prey, and killing for trophies.

“These threats have exerted substantial pressure on the species and continue to decrease overall numbers throughout most of the jaguar’s range.”

By breeding the two jaguars together, The Sanctuary will continue to provide a future for these endangered species.

Photo credit: The Big Cat Sanctuary