“
By their very nature, snow leopards are very shy animals. But,
for some reason, Zoe never tried to hide when I was near. When I was
approaching or sitting nearby at Scratch’s cage, she would always sit
at the edge of her cage and stare at me. To get me over by her, she would
chuff at me. When I would finally go over and see her, Zoe would just
sit next to me at the edge of her cage. Hercules, the male snow leopard
in the adjoining cage, has always had a dislike for me, and Zoe's sister and
cagemate, Cloe, was always indifferent to me. But, for whatever reason,
Zoe saw something in me that she liked.
In August of 2003, Zoe did not come out at feeding. I fed a few more
cages, then went back to check on her. I found her in her den box….that
was the saddest moment of my life.
After Zoe was gone, it was obvious Cloe missed her. She kept looking
for her sister, and life-long companion, but could not find her. I would
sit with Cloe, and this formerly standoff-ish cat soon bonded with me. We
helped each other deal with the loss of Zoe. Now Cloe and I share a very
close relationship. It just goes to show that for every cat
we lose, there is another that needs our love and attention”…….Matt,
Senior Volunteer Keeper