2012 Cruel Leg Hold Trapping & Torture of Bobcat

Please speak out for this bobcat by asking that the people involved in his torture be fired and leg hold traps be banned.

Speak out against this here: CatLaws.com

Big Cat Rescue is home to over a dozen species of cats! Tigers and Lions may be the largest species at the sanctuary but many of our smaller species get the most attention! Say hello to the small cats of Big Cat Rescue, to read more about an individual cat on the video please visit CatBios .

Jamie, Chelsea, Willow, Jen and Howie at Staff - Committee Meeting

Sharyn, Jeff, Chris and Denny at Staff - Committee Meeting

Denny, Becky, Edith, Gale and Honey at Staff - Committee Meeting

First ever meeting of the Staff and the Volunteer Committee.  We discussed ways to improve our volunteer program, came up with some great ideas, shifted around some job descriptions and will be changing some of our tour offerings to maximize our ability to provide the best services to the cats and the public possible at the least cost to our donors.

Today at Big Cat Rescue Nov 5

Nirvana the ocelot checks out empty coffee cup

Jennifer R Leads a Keeper Tour to Max the Bobcat

Nirvana approves of coffee on a cloudy cool morning

Mr. E the Leopard Cat asks for a cup too

Rambo the Jungle Cat watches for his next group of fans to arrive

Kanawha the Siberian Lynx snoozes away in her cat-a-tat in the woods

Jade and Armani Leopards vie for attention

Little White Dove is the toughest little bobcat I have ever met

Leopard on the prowl

Somebody needs to go on a diet

Skinny little Ace the bobcat is pretty much deaf & blind but gets along well

She is pretty fierce for a cat her age; which is ancient

Little White Dove the bobcat shows off her pearly whites

Matt and Rich pull the feeding carts out to all the happy cats

Feeding tour watches Nik the tiger eating while Simba waits for special treats

Today at Big Cat Rescue Oct 14

Last Two Days to Vote and we REALLY need your help!

If you live in LA, TX, FL,AZ, CO, NM and Texarcana, AR and Salt Lake City, UT and at least 13 years of age or older we need you to vote 5 times a day for Big Cat Rescue to win $25,000.

Voting ends tomorrow!

You can do all 5 votes in a row each day. http://www.albertsonscpchallenge.com/index.php

Our code number is 0063. Here is a flyer to post: Albertsons $25,000 Contest Flyer An easy URL to remember is VoteCats.com Please vote every day!

President, Jamie Veronica, builds tunnel for Pharaoh the white serval

Gift Shop staff and volunteers create a grrreat looking display

Get your holiday shopping done early, online here BigCatRescue.biz

I hope this intern is placing a pumpkin and not escaping a cat!

Good! It was a pumpkin! Chris and June hide one way up high.

Sundari leopard smiles for the camera after getting a pumpkin

Shaniqua Jungle Cat says, "I'd like my pumpkin with whipped cream, please."

Arthur the tiger comes over to greet the camera woman

Susan Reed offeres some enrichment to a serval

The tunnel and room addition work goes on into the night, but is done

To Skin a Cat

Shaniqua the Jungle Cat

SHANIQUA Female Jungle Cat

DOB 5/1/94

Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 9/19/94

Shaniqua came from an exotic animal auction where all sorts of wild animals are sold to the highest bidder with no thought as to their well being. From the first day she arrived here it became apparent why Shaniqua or any Jungle Cat would never make a good pet.

She was so hyperactive she was bouncing off the walls, literally. She even jumped into a ceiling fan or two and did not seem to learn anything from the experience, but rather found it quite entertaining. Shaniqua was built a large outdoor enclosure that she was to share with Tarzan, a neutered male, in hopes that she could exhaust all of her pent up energy playing with her new friend. The two have lived together ever since.

You can help feed me HERE

More about Shaniqua the Jungle Cat

Shaniqua is a Female Jungle Cat born 5/1/94 and who arrived here on 9/19/94 from an exotic animal auction where all sorts of wild animals are sold to the highest bidder with no thought as to their well being. From the first day she arrived here it became apparent why Shaniqua or any Jungle Cat would never make a good pet.

She was so hyperactive she was bouncing off the walls, literally. She even jumped into a ceiling fan or two and did not seem to learn anything from the experience, but rather found it quite entertaining. Shaniqua was built a large outdoor enclosure that she was to share with Tarzan, a neutered male, in hopes that she could exhaust all of her pent up energy playing with her new friend. The two were originally put together for the purpose of breeding, but we learned, through someone who knew both cats, from different times in their lives, that they had the same parents.  They were separated and no Jungle Cats ever were born here.

Shaniqua the Jungle Cat

A former volunteer / staff person recently shared his notes with Big Cat Rescuers about the Felid Taxon Advisory Group’s discussion of the dilemma they face with captive bred cats.  They only have a 24% success rate and thus the more rare cats are dying out of captivity.  The Felid TAG had prohibited using cats bred in the pet sector in the early 2000s because the private sector keeps no records and is an embarrassment due to their practices.  The problem is that the private sector produces more kittens than zoos and they are getting desperate to fill their cages.  If accredited zoos start paying for kittens again, the public will be jumping to fill that need and claiming they are helping conservation.  The only good that could come of that is that once the masses see that there is no difference between the actions of accredited zoos and back yard breeders, it will be easier to bring pressure to shut down the zoos.

I don’t know if it was an oversight, but Jungle Cats were not included in the report.  Back several years ago there were only 9 Jungle Cats listed in ISIS in the U.S. and 6 of them were here.  Now there is only Rambo and Shaniqua.  Once they are gone, it may be very near the end of an era of imprisonment for their species in America.  They are common enough in the wild that they are not endangered.  There are probably still a few in private collections, but we almost never hear of anyone having them any more.  We can win this battle for the cats.  We are so very close.

Rambo the Jungle Cat at Big Cat Rescue

RAMBO Male Jungle Cat

DOB 2/22/99

Arrived at Big Cat Rescue 12/5/99

Rambo came to Big Cat Rescue on 12/5/99. He was bred for the pet trade. His owner had sent him to live with her daughter who died unexpectedly and his primary caregiver became the 12 year old grand daughter. She and her relatives agreed that they did not want to see Rambo exploited as part of a hybridization breeding plan for profit and asked if he could come live at Big Cat Rescue.

Here he has a 900 square foot Cat-A-Tat with tunnels, grasses, hills, bushes, trees and flowers. He is very talkative and loves to carry on conversations with his keepers. Rambo is also very playful and loves to chase lizards and romp through the grasses in his enclosure.

You can help feed me HERE

More about Rambo the Jungle Cat

Rambo the Jungle Cat.  There is a notorious breeder of servals, jungle cats and hybrids in Okeechobee, FL known as Sue Arnold.  Former volunteers complained that you could smell her urine soaked home and cattery the minute you opened your car door at the street.  Despite her reputation she still breeds and sells more of these smaller cats than anyone else I know of and from all accounts is never willing to refund or take a cat back.  It was 12 years ago, but I am pretty sure that Rambo was born there.

Rambo the Jungle Cat

He was sold to another woman who gave him to her daughter who planned to breed hybrid Chausie cats.  When this breeder / dealer died she had a tiny chain link enclosure on concrete in her back yard with two Jungle Cats and two domestic cats, cordoned off into even tinier cells.  The daughter of the woman who died was only 12 years old and the Internet had only been around for about 3 years when she found us online and called.  She told me that she loved Rambo and Cha Cha and that she was afraid that they would end up back in some awful hybrid breeding scheme.  She asked if we would come rescue Rambo and Cha Cha from such a fate.

Who could turn down such an incredible young woman?  When we arrived catching Cha Cha was no easy feat.  She about wore me out.  I put the carrier in the van and turned to go back to the jail cell they had called home.  If I live to be 100, I don’t think I’ll ever forget what I saw next:

This little girl was clutching Rambo to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks and she hurriedly carried him down the driveway toward me.  You could just tell that she couldn’t get these cats to safety fast enough.  It made me cry.  I opened the carrier for her to gently put Rambo in, she said her quick good byes and Rambo and Cha Cha were finally on their way to a place where they would never be exploited again.

A few months later the little girl talked her family into driving up from South Florida to see Rambo and Cha Cha.  I was so proud to be able to show her the wonderful life her precious friends had now thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers here.  That little girl is 24 now and I don’t remember her name, but if she were to come visit again, she would be even more happy to know that Rambo has had such a long, happy, healthy life here at Big Cat Rescue.

Jungle Cat

Common Name: Jungle Cat, Swamp Cat, Reed Cat
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Felinae (Felis)
Species: chaus
Misc.: This cat, contrary to its name, is found in a variety of habitats but typically is not a frequenter of “jungles”. Like the African wildcats and domestic cats, the Jungle Cat has been mummified and placed in tombs in Ancient Egypt.

Size and Appearance: Similar in build to the Serval, the Jungle cat has long legs and a slender body. Their fur is sandy-brown, reddish or gray, and is unpatterned except for some brown striping on the legs. The ears are tall and rounded and are reddish with small lynx-like tufts on the tips. The tail is short, ringed faintly, and has a black tip. Melanistic animals have been seen. Adults weigh between 9-28 pounds, reach heights of 14-16 inches, and lengths of 28-48 inches. Like kittens of lions and cougars, which are born with spotting, these kittens are born with stripes for safe concealment, which they lose as they mature.

Habitat: In Egypt they prefer swampy ground and reed beds, and in India they prefer woodlands, open plains, grasslands, agricultural crops and scrub.

Distribution: Egypt through Southwestern Asia to India.

Reproduction and Offspring: Mating has been recorded in February/ March in Central Asia and October in India. Females usually set up their dens in reed beds or thick vegetation. After a gestation of 63-68 days, females produce a litter of 1-6 kittens. They weigh around 4.5 ounces at birth and gain an average of 22 grams per day. Their eyes open between 10-12 days, they are weaned at 3 months, stalk and kill prey and reach independence by 5-6 months and are sexually mature at 11 months.

In captivity, they have lived up to 14 years at other places and past 17 years at Big Cat Rescue.

Social System and Communication: In the wild, family groups of males, females and cubs have been seen together, and in captivity, males are even more protective of cubs than females. The vocalization is a very loud “bark” as you would expect for a large breed of dog. It is such a peculiar sound coming from such a diminutive little cat.

Hunting and Diet: Primarily diurnal, these cats feed primarily on rodents, but also take hares, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, young chital and wild pigs, and being strong swimmers they will dive to catch fish.

Principal Threats: The greatest threat facing this cat is reclamation and destruction of natural wetlands. Also, they are killed by farmers because of their taste for domestic poultry, and sportsmen don’t like them because their prey base is the sportsman’s game species.

Status: CITES: Appendix II. IUCN: Not listed.

Felid TAG recommendation: Jungle cat (Felis chaus). Still common in nature, this species declined in captivity due to a general lack of interest. Viable populations are not present in North America. This species is not recommended for support in North America.

How rare is this cat? The International Species Information Service lists 64 worldwide, with 9 being in the U.S.

Information reprinted With Permission from the IUCN Wild Cats Book.

Meet our jungle cat friends:

Rambo

Shaniqua

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