Saving Wild Cats
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Read Big Cat Rescue's Daily Updates on Wildcats in the Wild at Field Projects
Big Cat Rescue is saving wild cats. We post the latest in wildcat news here and in our newsletter The Big Cat Times. We gather news from around the world DAILY and forward it to The Association of Sanctuaries and the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, of which we are a part, who are actively involved in saving the wildcats in the wild. See what you can do to help save these exotic cats in captivity and in the wild. Great and Lesser Cats are in peril around the world and need people like you, who care about tigers and other exotic cats to help save them from the brink of extinction. Big Cat Rescue is working to make it illegal to sell exotic cats as pets and is diligently striving to improve conditions for big cats in zoos and circuses.
Save Cats In The Wild
Big Cat Rescue’s New Projects
After just a week in Central America I am reminded how fortunate we are to live in the United States. The things we take for granted, like freedom, availability of goods and the opportunity to shape our own destinies through education, creativity and hard work are luxuries far beyond the grasp of most of this planet’s inhabitants. It’s good to be home.
Big Cat Rescue’s Global Coordinator
P
at Quillen has spent the past 31 years devoted to intensive
study and hands-on experience with the majority of small and medium sized
species of wild cats. In 1978 Pat founded S.O.S.,
Care and still maintains the facility. She has become internationally known
for her work and knowledge on housing, husbandry, behaviour, nutrition and
infant/neonate nutrition and care of the world's small wild cats. In
1989 Pat was nominated for the Chevron Conservation Award, and she has been
featured by CNN Science & Technology. Pat also assisted PBS and 20th Century
Fox, BBC 1 and National Geographic on film projects featuring wild cats, and
she is a member of the World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission.
She and the San Diego Zoo host the Small Felid Workshop each year and she was
selected to join the original 12 members of the American Zoological Association’s, Felid Taxon Advisory Group. Her "family" is
currently comprised of 30 Margay, Tigrina, Black Footed Cats, Sand Cats and a
recently confiscated 
Serval.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife has placed confiscated animals with Pat. She has
consulted with zoos when they have problems with behaviour or breeding. Her cats
and her work are featured in many publications and her name is widely recognized
in the zoo world as a cat specialist. More importantly, there’s not a cat
we’ve encountered who didn’t immediately recognize Pat as a kindred spirit.
I met Pat at the Small Felid Workshop in Las Vegas in May 1998 and visited with her again in April 1999 at the AZA Felid Taxon Advisory Group meeting hosted by Disney in Orlando. Shortly thereafter, Pat visited Big Cat Rescue and we had the chance to talk about our ultimate goals for the wildcats. We are both in the unenviable position of having to dedicate much of our time and resources into putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. It means the world to the cats we rescue, but it doesn’t cure the problem. Our common goal is to make a difference that will preserve the cats in the wild and preserve the existing gene pool for future integrity of the species.
Big Cat Rescue & S.O.S., Care Go Worldwide!
Pat shared with me the details of the projects in which she has participated in Brazil and those that she’s been negotiating in other countries of the world. When she was invited by Yolanda de Metamores, President of the Central American Zoological Association, and Director of the Simon Bolivar Zoo in San Jose, to come advise them on housing and husbandry of their cats, she asked Big Cat Rescue to come and share the concepts and designs that have proven useful, economical and enjoyable to the 146 cats that we house.
Almost
all of the 37 cat species are endangered and many are perched right on the edge
of destruction. Most of the exotic cats in the U.S. are termed "generic" meaning there is no known purity of the sub species.
It has taken the thousands of years that humans have dominated animals for us to realize, only in the very recent past, that we have to plan for the future, or there won’t be one. Only in your lifetime have we started to concern ourselves with preserving our very life support system. The concept of zoos as collections for amusement has only recently begun to evolve into a "Noah’s Ark" for survival of the species and as a forum to educate the masses. In this time zoos have formed national and global alliances and have been instrumental in the formation of laws to protect the animals in the wild. They have begun keeping records and genealogies to encourage the best probable pairings of captive animals. Although the improvements have been vast, they are finding that, without new blood, it may still be too late to ensure the continuation of many of the cat families.
We must maintain pure, sub species if there will ever be any hope of reintroduction to the wild. Pat relayed this simple yet comprehensive example: Margay in Mexico have frequent exposure to rattlesnakes and down through the generations is passed the ability to recognize the rattlesnake as a deadly adversary. Margay in Costa Rica have had practically no experience with these deadly snakes and their curiosity would draw them to the rattling sound. To release sub species from the wrong region can result in a cat who will seek out a snake that will kill him.
We have the tools and techniques to study wild populations in
different regions. We need to know what the prey base and potential dangers are
for each sub-species and condition the cats accordingly if this is to succeed. It
requires world wide participation to preserve the animals in captivity until
enough progress has been made in preserving and protecting habitat to make
release a viable reality.
The cats who are native to Central America are the Jaguar,
Puma, Ocelot, Margay, Tigrina and Jaguarundi. The problems these cats face is
loss of habitat through 
deforestation, pollution and poaching for their pelts
and the pet trade. While all of the Central American countries have enacted
laws against illegal trade in these endangered species, they don’t have the money or manpower to effectively combat the loss
of precious natural resources. In every country we visited, we were alarmed by
the common statement by the Wildlife Ministers, "We think our wild
populations are in great danger because fewer and fewer are being found or
reported!" They all claim that until recently there were always road kill,
confiscations and kittens turned in with no mothers, that let them know the cats
were still around. Now it is a rare occurrence.
Think
for a moment, what that means… A forest with no
carnivores will soon be over run with herbivores. Without balance, the rodents
and other plant eating animal populations will explode and they will consume
all of the plant matter, including crops meant for human consumption. Without
food and without the oxygen provided by the Rain Forest, how long can man survive?
This isn’t just another "save the animals" pitch, this is a matter
of life and death for all of us.
Developing countries are realizing the importance of sustaining the balance of nature. They have set in motion, the laws to protect the animals and forests and have delegated power to their Ministers and Directors of Wildlife. National Zoos have been established to protect animals who have been confiscated from traffickers, smugglers and citizens who have captured the kittens to raise, only to discover how wild they can be when half grown. The cats come to the zoos, emaciated from being fed meatless diets and with a myriad of problems from self mutilation to a dwarf like appearance from lack of vitamins and minerals.
The Central American zoos are poorly funded and face the same
problems. They often cannot afford the quality and quantity of meat, nor the
vitamins and supplements. An Ocelot 
will
eat, at one meal, more meat than is used to feed a poor family for a week. It is
hard to solicit public support in a region where life is such a hardship. The
zoos strive to educate their visitors about conservation but have limited
resources to do so. None of the zoos we visited had a web site, nor did the
public schools have Internet access to retrieve the information. The zoos could
not afford reference books for the keepers. Not even the Veterinarians had
access to books, charts or any information other than what they owned
themselves.
Imagine
being responsible for a typical collection of 300 animals without any
information, without the most basic tools and often without drugs, vaccines or
supplies. Compound this by the antiquated caging that is rusty, decaying, always
damp and impossible to disinfect. The cages were built back in the times when
animals were displayed until they died and then replaced. They were not designed
to prevent injury and many share common walls. Often times animals die from
reaching a paw into the cage of their neighbor. Even if they aren’t ripped to
pieces, they can die of infection. It was nothing short of miraculous that these
cats were in relatively good condition!
Despite
all of the challenges of these circumstances, the Central American people are a
race of hard working men and women who are proud of their stable governments and
their national heritage. The people involved know that these cats are a precious
national treasure to be protected and preserved. The Ministers, Directors,
Veterinarians, keepers and staff we met with were all well educated and
determined. The Costa Rican Minister of Wildlife previously served two terms as
the Minister of Justice and knows well the problems associated with protecting
the animals. Annabelle Julio has been the attending Veterinarian for the Summit
Zoo in Panama for the past 10 years and was acting Director for the zoo during
our stay. She works closely with Panama’s Administrator General, Lucida
Kruskayo. These people and the care givers we met all loved their animals as was
evidenced by the way the animals responded to them. 
Despite
being 8 months pregnant, Zoo Nutritionist Andrea Brenas weathered the rain and
rough terrain to discuss the cat’s diets with us. Veterinarian, Danieo Leandro
took time out of his busy schedule to discuss medical equipment and general
husbandry practices. Architects, like Franco Alvarenga donate their time to the
zoos and sat with us for hours drafting cage designs that would be practical,
functional and secure for the cats. It was obvious by the way everyone pitched
in and worked together that they would do anything in their power to improve the
quality of life for their wards. Everyone we met with was painfully aware of the
urgent need to study and preserve the remnants of the last surviving wildcat
populations. The Central American people are eager to learn and to implement
this knowledge into action. In any project the most costly and time consuming
efforts are in creating the infrastructure on which the finished product is
erected. In the organizations we are working with, that foundation of land,
staff and political support already exists.
At left is the new aviary in Simon Bolivar
The plan is to work hand in hand with each country in which viable wild populations of felids still remain. Rehabilitation facilities will be established to enable the zoos to successfully return as many cats as possible to the wild. We seek to set up conservation breeding programs, in situ, using only the animals who have been confiscated that are not capable of survival if released.
We
will help in the design of the cages to maximize the animals’ comfort to
ensure successful breeding and mother rearing of the progeny. We will assist in
all aspects of wildcat husbandry including disease control, eradication of
parasites, proper nutrition, safe breeding practices and most importantly,
recognizing each animal as an individual and meeting it’s emotional needs
accordingly. The offspring of the native cats will be available to replenish and
strengthen our U.S. populations. With selective breeding and careful management
we intend to perpetuate all of the exotic cat species until such time as there
is enough protected habitat to sustain them in the way God intended.
S.O.S.,
Care and Big Cat Rescue are excited to be pioneering these bold
conservation projects but we can’t do it without your help. You have the
opportunity to be involved in projects that will make a global impact. Unlike
any other conservation charity, you have the satisfaction of seeing every dollar
contributed put into action and not into administrative fees and salaries. Pat
and I attended these conferences at our own expense and did not use Big Cat
Rescue donations to do so. We spent $2000.00 of our own, hard earned money,
and took time away from our own responsibilities to the 230 animals we are
responsible for, to set the wheels in motion. We hope that you will recognize
this chance to be a part of history. It is always just a handful of dedicated
people who really make a difference. You will be a living example of the motto,
"making a difference today to ensure survival tomorrow."
Big business and corporate America aren’t going to invest
in any project until they can see that it is a public priority and that it
can’t fail. It’s now or never for the exotic cats of Central America. They
can’t hold out without our help. This is more important than just making a
charitable donation for tax purposes or to feel good about yourself. This is
an investment in a living planet for you, your children and your children’s
children. Do the right thing and give generously.
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