Back on November 9, Mary and I went to Santa Cruz to see a presentation by Leopards, Etc., which is an organization run by Rob and Barbara Dicely dedicated to educating the public about the plight of the planet’s wildlife. With 25 years in education and more than 20 years of working with wildcats, Rob and Barbara provide a fun and educational presentation where the real stars are some of their cats. During the 60 minute presentation we got to meet 5 of their cats.
First up was Oksana, the Siberian Lynx. What a beautiful cat. She has such a thick coat of fur. Every time Rob ran his hand across her back a big clump of fur would fly off.During the presentation we learned that the original lynx was the North American bobcat which migrated up to Canada, across the land bridge to Siberia and all the way to Europe. Oksana, a female, was born on 5/8/94. Sadly, Siberian lynx are still legally hunted for their beautiful spotted furs. (The hunting of all other spotted cats was banned in 1975).
Next up was Kgosi, the King Cheetah. The cheetah is the fastest of all land animals, running up to 70 miles per hour in pursuit of their prey. A king cheetah differs from a normal cheetah in that the spots of is back have fused into stripes. Kgosi means king or headsman in the language of Botswana. He was born on 5/25/99. Between 1926 and 1975 there were only six confirmed sightings of King cheetahs in the wild.
Chimane the Ocelot is quite a climber. Ocelots inhabit brushy and forested regions from Texas well into South America. The beauty of the Ocelot’s coat makes it the best known small cat of the Americas and one of the most threatened. They are agile climbers and leapers, hunting mostly at night for small prey such as opossums, mice, rats and rabbits. Chimane, a female, was born in March of 1997.
Shoshone, the Cougar or mountain lion, is the largest of the purring cats. The mountain lion ranges in size from six to nine feet from nose to tail with weights between 75 and 110 pounds for females and between 100 and 200 pounds for males. Once common throughout North America, its habitat has been reduced to a restricted range west of the rocky mountains with a small remnant population in Florida. Shoshone was born on 4/25/04. She is named after a Native American tribe.
Mara is a Caracal. The caracal, or desert lynx, is a creature of the wide-open African savanna which also frequents scattered woodlands. Caracals are swift, powerful cats which can kill prey up to twice their body size. They weigh between 20 and 40 pounds and are between 24 and 30 inches long, excluding the tail. They range across the African savanna belt and as far as the Middle East and sand dune regions of southern Iran. In India, where caracals once sat at the feet of princes, only scant numbers remain. Mara was born on 9/3/91. She is named after the Mara river in the Kenyan Savanna.
All in all it was an interesting presentation; such a treat to see these wild cats in such close proximity. Rob and Barbara do educational programs all over the bay area. Their mission is to increase public awareness of the plight of vanishing wildlife species on this planet. A portion of their proceeds go to a variety of wildlife organizations. The rest goes toward the upkeep of their 20-some cats at their facility in Sabastapol, CA. If you’re in the Bay Area, check out their site and attend one of their programs. It’s quite and experience.