Category — Cats

We’ve been collecting some great feedback from those of you who have experienced the new Night Hunters exhibit. Thanks to all who have shared their thoughts and advice via Facebook, blog comments, exit surveys, and so on. It is much appreciated and greatly helps us in being able to provide the best experience possible.

One of the major concerns that visitors have expressed is that it’s too dark. Yes, it is a nocturnal exhibit, but we certainly don’t want people stubbing their toes or losing their loved ones! We’ve added in more of the twilight blue lighting along the front hallway recently that should help with that. We’ve also added a bit more light to some of the darker exhibits such as the potto and Burmese python. [Read more →]

Last November, scientists from the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), traveled to the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut to artificially inseminate “Kuma”, their 3-legged female Brazilian Ocelot. A similar procedure had been performed 2 years earlier, and “Milagre”, a beautiful female kitten was raised by her mother and transferred to another zoo. The November procedure, performed by Dr. Bill Swanson and Dr. Colleen Lambo, was also a success and on January 22nd, 2011, “Kuma” gave birth to another female kitten! Now 5 months old and quite a spunky little youngster, she is on exhibit with her mother at the Beardsley Zoo. [Read more →]

Two weeks ago, one of the Cincinnati Zoo’s Pallas’ cats, Sophia, gave birth to three kittens – the first produced by artificial insemination (AI).   Our research progress at CREW with domestic cats and wild cat species over the past 15 years has given us the opportunity to use assisted reproductive technologies to help manage threatened felid populations.  While it is always exciting to produce the first offspring of an exotic species with some new reproductive technique, that accomplishment, in itself, is relatively meaningless if that first birth turns out to be the only birth.  At CREW, our primary goal is not “world’s firsts”, it is to develop and apply the appropriate scientific tools to help us to conserve endangered wildlife populations.  So we produced the world’s first Pallas’ cats by AI – why does that matter?

Well, first, this AI procedure was attempted with Sophia because she decided that she didn’t really like the male, Buster, who was selected as her mate. [Read more →]