We know it is a cheetah blog but ocelots have been coming up quite a bit on the blog these days so we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight Sihil, our ambassador ocelot. Last week was Sihil’s 10th birthday. We celebrate all birthdays in the Cat Ambassador Program but this one was especially important because Sihil is the first endangered cat produced from a frozen embryo. Our hardworking Cincinnati Zoo scientists at CREW, The Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, successfully produced Sihil in 2000 after five years of research and collaboration.
Here is Sihil at 5 weeks old with CREW scientist Dr. Bill Swanson, on Good Morning America.
Sihil at 6 months with Dr. Swanson. The technology developed to “make” Sihil is now being used to assist Brazilian ocelots, which are very endangered.
Dr. Swanson and Sihil today in the show yard.
We support all cat conservation and are proud to have such a notable ambassador in our program, as well as dedicated CREW scientists. Sihil continues to tell the CREW success story and share the plight of the wild ocelot with zoo visitors and school children.
To learn more about Sihil’s birth click here.
To learn more about the amazing conservation and research programs at CREW, click here.