Feline Conservation Federation · 2019-06-13 · Feline Conservation Federation Volume 51, Issue 5—September/October 2007 3 This magazine is published bi-monthly by the Feline Conservation

Feline Conservation FederationVolume 51, Issue 5 Sep/Oct 2007Feline Conservation FederationVolume 51, Issue 5 Sep/Oct 2007

Founder: Catherine Cisin

Copy Editor/Layout:Mike Friese204 S. Batavia StreetOrange, CA [email protected], Cat Writers’ Association

OFFICERS

President:Lynn Culver141 Polk 664Mena, AR [email protected]

Vice President:Brian Werner17552 FM 14Tyler, TX [email protected]

Secretary:Elizabeth Whitlock1385 Middle Burnington RoadFranklin, NC [email protected]

Treasurer:Kevin Chambers7816 N CR 75 WShelburn, IN [email protected]

DIRECTORS

Conservation:Mindy StinnerPO Box 882Mebane, NC [email protected]

Education: Carol Bohning13740 Blamer RoadJohnstown, OH [email protected]

Public Relations:Irene Satterfield34205 State Route ODrexel. MO [email protected]

Membership Services: Carolyne Clendinen10816 Lucasville RoadManassas, VA [email protected]

Legislation:Evelyn Shaw13262 Cleveland Road SWPataskala, OH [email protected]

DEPARTMENTS

FCF Feline FacilityAccreditation Chairman:Kevin Chambers7816 N CR 75 WShelburn, IN [email protected]

Conservation Advisor:Jim Sanderson, Ph.D. 356 Freeman StreetHartford, CT [email protected]

Region 1John Turner6926 River Rd. S., Salem, OR 97306 [email protected]

Region 2Bill Meadows963 County Street 2930Tuttle, OK [email protected]

Region 3Nancy Nightswander 5426 W. Township Road 112Tiffin, OH [email protected]

Feline Conservation Federation Officers and Directors Contact Information

Cover: Thierry Plaud plays with Shakira, the Siberianlynx at Bear Creek Feline Center. Photo by Jim Broad-dus. Inside: Lucy the Geoffroy’s kitten gives J.R. thecougar cub a kiss. Photo by Phil Parker.

Region 4Wayne Sluder32 Beaver Creek LoopRoland, AR [email protected]

Region 5Sara Comstock19 Hill Top RdFeasterville, PA [email protected]

Region 6Matt Baker16832 266th RoadAtchison, Kansas [email protected]

Field Representative Regional Directors

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FCF JOURNAL ANDJOIN FCF IN ITS

CONSERVATION EFFORTS

A membership to FCF entitles you to six issues of this journal,the back-issue DVD, an invitation to the convention, and par-ticipation in our discussion groups. Your membership helpsthe conservation of exotic felines though support of habitatprotection and conservation, education, and breeding pro-grams. Send $30 ($35 Canada, $40 international) to FCF, c/oKevin Chambers, 7816 N CR 75 W, Shelburn, IN 47879.

Members are invited to participate in email list discussions on-line at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_FCF/

Feline Conservation FederationVolume 51, Issue 5—September/October 2007

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This magazine is published bi-monthly by the Feline Conservation Federation. We are a non-profit (FederalID# 59-2048618) non-commercial organization with international membership, devoted to the welfare of exoticfelines. The purpose of this publication is to present information about exotic feline conservation, management,and ownership to our members. The material printed is contributed by our members and reflects the point of

view of the author but does not necessarily represent the point of view of the organization. FCF’s Statement of Intent is contained inour bylaws, a copy of which can be requested from the secretary. Reproduction of the material in this magazine may not be madewithout the written permission of the original copyright owners and/or copyright owner FCF. We encourage all members to contributearticles. Articles on exotic feline ownership, husbandry, veterinary care, conservation and legislation are gladly accepted. Articlesinvolving other related subjects will also be considered. Letters and responses to articles may be included in the Readers Write col-umn. Submission deadline for the next issue is the first day of even numbered months. Please submit all photos and articles to the edi-tor. Persons interested in joining FCF should contact the term director in charge of member services. Dues are $30 US, $35.00 Cana-da, and $40 international.

All ads in this publication are void where prohibited by law. All transactions are betweenbuyer and seller. All buyers and sellers must have proper licenses and permits for all animalsoffered for sale or sold. FCF, Inc. does not necessarily endorse or guarantee the honesty ofany advertiser. FCF, Inc. reserves the right to edit or reject any subscription ad. No blind ani-

mal ads will be accepted. Only FCF members may place ads listing cats for sale. Adoption ads are free of charge for cats thatneed good homes where no money is involved in the transaction. All ads must contain the name of business or individual adver-tising. Ads must state whether the individual is a private owner or broker. Full current address with a phone number must be stat-ed in the ad. Display ads are $10 business card, $25.00 quarter page, $50.00 half page, $100 full-page ad. Color ads available,contact Director of Advertising and Publicity, opposite page, for price quotes.

Feline Conservation Federation

Advertising

Letter from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Kiraka and Aki (The Rukas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6“Pets” is not a Four-Letter Word! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Dominion by Mathew Scully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10In the Presence of Wildcats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12The 2007 FCF Convention in Dallas Texas: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Dallas Husbandry Course Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Cat Conservation in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25The Convention: Six Impressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Photographic Retrospective from the Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Petting Puma Prove Profitable for U.A.P.P.E.A.L. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Then and Now: A Comparison of Two Dallas Conventions 25 Years Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Latest Exotic Feline Handlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Art Show—Cats: Facts, Legends, and Myths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Field Conservationist Meets Felids Ex Situ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Blast from the Past...The Very First F2 Savannahs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Another FCF Member Facility is Accredited! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Carol Bohning’s Thoughts on Winning the Lotty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42New Regional Field Representative Works Successfully to Stop Ban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Captive Wildlife Safety Act starts September 17, 2007—What does this mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Establishing the Bounds of Oregon’s Fish & Wildlife’s Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Cougar Development: Conclusions After Eleven Months of Co-Rearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46FCF General Membership Meeting Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Board Meeting Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Focus on Nature® Asian Golden Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Copyright © 2007 Feline Conservation Federation. All rights reserved. Some material is reprinted with permission of other copyright holders.

Feline Conservation Federation


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Convention afterglow: the feeling youhave when you arrive home after days spentwith cat friends in Dallas. Everyone seemedto have a good time; the events progressedrather smoothly and only one strangler fromthe cat herd needed to be rounded up at theSouthfork Ranch. The mix of old membersand new ones, artists, international guests,and various friendly felines to fondle madefor interesting experiences and conversa-tions. With so much going on, there was noway to visit with everyone but I thoroughlyenjoyed talking to so many new people.

The FCF membership nominated andvoted on the first annual Conservationist ofthe Year award at the Saturday night ban-quet. FCF Conservation advisor JimSanderson was presented a plaque. The dri-ving force behind the award was a sugges-tion by FCF member Raven Simons, whowished that FCF members had a voice inhonoring extraordinary efforts in feline con-servation. The FCF board took her sugges-tion and implemented it in time for the Dal-las convention, although it forced a tightvoting schedule. Unfortunately Raven wasunable to attend the Dallas event due tomedical issues. Thanks, Raven, for yoursuggestion and hope you are well on yourway to a full recovery.

The first ever benefit art show titledCats: Facts, Myths, and Legends was a lotof work and required coordinated effortsfrom the nine featured artists and curatorDeborah Rabinski. Mike Friese designed afull-color postcard and Deborah created atarget mailing list. Gail Laviola mailed out400 of these announcement postcards.Oklahoma artist Debbie St. John deliveredthe portable center walls, which expandedthe display capabilities of the room and shedid a live casting of J.R. puma’s paw printfor the audience. Artists Rochelle Masonand Linda Dupris-Rosen flew in fromHawaii and California to debut their 36 cat“Wildcats of the World” exhibit. Deborahand husband/artist Rick Hilderbrandtworked late into the night Friday to set upthe show. Deborah’s composition and lay-out was stunning; one can easily see this isher area of expertise. FCF’s own artistmember Laura Walker signed books andvisited with the public. In the back of theroom was a display cage with JR puma,

Lucy Geoffroy’s kitten,and Sue Ellen bobcat.Visitors got a rare glimpseof hand-raised exotic kit-tens. Artists split their pro-ceeds with the FCF andover $2,500 was generat-ed from art sales.

FCF members and sup-porters donated enoughfunds to pay for the inter-national airfare for twoguest speakers from SouthAmerica to attend. Theywere Fernando Vidal ofChile, founder of Fauna-Andina, a native wildliferehab and captive breed-ing center and Anne-Sophie Bertrand, aresearcher of margays inBrazil, who both spoke onSaturday. Over 50 yearsago, Long Island OcelotClub members pioneeredthe captive husbandry ofocelots and margay. Todaythe margay is almost com-pletely gone in the US.But we still have memberslike Fred Boyajian whorecall those days andwhose husbandry experi-ence and close associationwith margays hasspawned a love for thisspecies that will never begone. Fred pledged$5,000 to the FCF Con-servation Grants Fund,earmarked for Sophie’s 2-year radio-collarresearch proposal.

Two people I was particularly excited tomeet at convention were Rebecca andElmer Morgan, active members from beforemy time (prior to 1987.) Both Elmer andRebecca served on the LIOC board andRebecca was awarded the coveted Lotty in1982. Her original Crazy Caracal cartoonsregularly livened up newsletters of thattime. It was an honor and pleasure to meetand visit with these long-term members. Asresidents of Texas, they no longer keep anyexotic cats due to changes in the laws.

Letter from the President

Director at large Robert Turner resignedjust a few weeks before convention. Heknew he was not going to attend this year’sevent due to a conflict with another of hisgreat loves—Brickyard auto racing. As weall know, you can’t be in two places at thesame time and this year the FCF conven-tion lost. Bob hoped the board couldappoint a replacement by convention butthis was not possible. All of the boardmembers have plenty on their plates. Bobserved this organization for almost adecade. He just retired from a career atGeneral Motors and decided to retire from

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the FCF board as well. Bob remarked tome several times his belief that the newgeneration board members need to be verysavvy on the internet and comfortable withcomputers and software and he was havingtrouble keeping up.

At the convention’s annual board ofdirector’s meeting, J.B. Anderson submit-ted his written resignation. JB was electedlife director in a special election in 1992.Before that he had served as Director ofAdvertising. In the 1980s and early 1990s itwas customary for the board to meet justonce a year at the annual convention.Times have changed and now the FCFboard conducts at least quarterly internetboard meetings. J.B. does not wish to use acomputer so his input has been missingfrom many important board discussions.This past spring the board amended the by-laws to require board members to partici-pate in internet board meetings as well asthe annual convention meeting. JB hasserved as the auctioneer at almost every

convention the past two decades. He is atrue thespian at heart and his antics andhumor has raised many thousands of dollarsfor FCF. As a member, JB will be free todevote his time to worthy projects of hischoosing.

Volunteering for years can lead toburnout. Sometimes it can hamper yourability to accept change and new ideas andthat can result in stagnation. The originalstructure of this organization included fourlife directors expected to serve for their life-time, but in reality, they eventually resign.Life Directors were to act as rudders, mak-ing sure that the ship stayed on course. As Istudy the history of this organization, I seemore evidence of the ship having fouranchors than four rudders. Now all the FCFboard seats are two-year terms.

I appreciate all the volunteer hours Boband JB gave to the FCF over the years. Theboard must now appoint two volunteers toserve in the empty seats created by theirresignations. At the convention board meet-

ing a serious review of the needs of this orga-nization led the board to amend the bylaws tocreate two new important jobs—a Director ofMarketing and a Director of Development.Finding the right volunteers will help posi-tion FCF for future growth and outreachwork, increase our media exposure, and ourfund-raising success. Do either of these posi-tions sound like an opportunity for you?Please contact me if you are interested inbeing appointed to the FCF board. We willbe addressing these empty board positionsthis month.

FCF is now rapidly evolving; it representsa larger and broader membership. In the pastcouple of years it has created new servicessuch as Facility Accreditation and HandlerRegistration and new programs like the Con-servation Grants and Fund for Helping Catsin Need as well as the highly acclaimed Hus-bandry Course to forward its primary mis-sion of captive conservation. FCF will con-tinue to be a member-driven organization,but this board has a vision to raise the fundsnecessary to hire a full-time Executive Direc-tor and a Director’s Assistant so that evenmore progress with FCF services, publicrelations, and member building can beachieved. At the convention board meeting amotion to approve these two paid positionspassed, the necessary first step towardsachieving this goal. We must now form aplan to generate the funds to make this a real-ity.

Planning for the FCF convention takes afull year. Next year FCF member Doc Antlehas graciously offered to host the conventionin Myrtle Beach, SC and offered FCF mem-bers a trip to his T.I.G.E.R.S. PreservationStation. Doc’s place is first class and unique.Not only are tigers, ligers, lion, leopard,cougar, and lynx roaming the grounds, butalso we will visit elephant, orangutans, chim-panzees, binturong, and birds of prey andother animal ambassadors as well. MyrtleBeach is a popular resort destination in thesummer time. The Convention Committeewill have to get started early to reserve ahotel for us. Room prices will be higher thanwe are used to paying; the question right nowis, how much higher? Start your savingaccount now so that you can afford to be atthe 2008 convention because you cannotafford to miss this one!—Lynn Culver

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By Denise LittleKiraka was born from Matata (serval

male) and Cinnamon (caracal female) onOctober 18, 1999.

We call this cross cat “Ruka” whichmeans ‘to cross’ in Swahali. I know theyare supposed to be called servacal or car-avel, but we did not like the sounds of thosenames.

Kiraka has a brother named Tsavo whohas lived with a very loving lady in NewYork since he was eight weeks old. She hasprovided a perfect home for him all theseyears. Every year at Christmas we receive acard with an updated picture of him.

Kiraka on the other hand was sold to anice man in New York for his wife as a

Christmas present. Our first experience ofselling as a gift and our last experience!

We shipped her off early Christmas eveand received a call Christmas day. The callcame from a frantic, waling lady who washighly allergic to cats! She couldn’t evenget near the carrier. She cried, “What do Ido? I can’t even have her.” I said calmly,“Send her home” and I apologized foreverything. How can a husband of threeyears not know his wife is allergic to cats?

So the next day we were back at the air-port to pick Kiraka up. There she was hud-dled in the back of the carrier, scared todeath. Bruce peeked in the carrier and said,“Hi sweetie,” and made the chirp sound toher. Kiraka came right up to the carrier

door and chirped back at him. The wholeseventy miles home Bruce and Kirakachirped at each other continuously. He feltso bad because she kept chirping and rat-tling the carrier door. He wanted to take herout, hold her and drive at the same time, butknew he couldn’t. It seemed like an endlessseventy miles to me listening to both ofthem!

As soon as we got her home and openedthe carrier door she jumped into Bruce’slap, licked his cheek purring and chirping.Needless to say, she never left home again.

Kiraka is still with us at eight years old.Absolutely stunning in appearance and assweet natured as she began.

Aki was born from Natata and Cinna-

Kiraka and Aki (The Rukas)


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mon on July 12, 2001. His brother, Snug-gles, who everyone, including the vet,thought was a girl, turned out to be a boy.This was discovered when he was supposedto be spayed. Needless to say he was

well that he is still with us at age six. He ishuge and handsome but looks totally differ-ent than Kiraka.

Kiraka has the body stoutness androunder head like a caracal. She has dis-tinct dark spots on her body.

Aki has the long, lanky body and nar-row face like a serval. He has smaller andlighter spots on his body.

The Ruka has a reddish tan backgroundcolor and dark brown spots all over theirbody. The ear tufts are not as long as acaracal but definitely noticeable. They havethe white mark on the back of their earslike a serval. They have a crisp white bellyand under legs with black stripes and spots.The claws are a mix of caracal and serval.The cubs are all different. Some take thehead and body shape of a caracal; sometake the head and body shape of a serval.Some have bigger, darker spots all overtheir body. Some have smaller, lighterspots.

They are both so different in appear-ance. Absolutely beautiful! •

Aki catches Bruce’s ear.

Commissioned PaintingsOriginal Wildcat Art & Prints

Felines are my specialty!

Rochelle Mason, Artist (808) 985-7311 [email protected]

www.Rmasonfinearts.com

neutered instead. Snuggles is living the lifeof leisure full of lots of love in Miami withour dear friend.

Aki was no dummy. He chose to attachhimself to Bruce and worked his charm so

Kirika relaxes with her domestic partner, Popcorn.


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Of late I have been troubled by a contro-versy among the ranks of exotic animalowners. In our attempts to justify our exis-tence and keep our private rights to chooseanimals of a non-domestic species to shareour lives with, some choose to deny thevery foundation of private exotic pet own-ership in the United States.The fact is a large percentageof captive born offspring ofwild feline species are cur-rently held in private homesand small facilities as pets.

Pets for the purposes ofthis writing are cherishedfamily members of a non-human species raised withlove and human kindness. Inorder to deflect the ire of theanimal rights groups andthose who really could care less about shar-ing their lives with animals, some ownerspoint out that they are motivated by conser-vation and are concerned for the survival ofa given species. Some of these same privateconservationists keep felines who sleep onthe couch and come to names like Sweetieand Sugar. What is wrong with admittingthat?

This justification of private ownership asconservation can be confusing and misun-derstood. This concept threatens to dividethe alliance between the multi-animalowner/breeders from the person who keepsone or two non-reproductively activeexotics. We all have a role to play.

Conservation is accomplished by sus-taining a species, either in a wild state innature or in captivity, in habitat of humancreation. To further conservation, somebreeders consult studbooks and demon-strate serious concern for genetic viability.It is true that exotic felines are potentialambassadors for their species if their own-ers are educated enough to teach. Thesefelines do contribute to conservation aware-ness, but captive bred exotic felines are forthe most part, primarily “pets.” We shouldnot let the forces that oppose our right tokeep exotic felines for whatever reasonhave the power to define us, divide us, andconquer us.

What is wrong with owning a pet exoticor just being a good exotic pet owner?From the time we came out of the trees andstarted to share our fire with wolves, thecompanion animal, i.e. pet dog, has beenheld in high esteem. Ancient cultures haveworshiped the various feline species and

devoted works of art andpoetry to them. Felines havebeen our steadfast friendsand eliminated vermin whenwe were unable to controlinfestation ourselves. Thesecompanions comforted uswhen nothing else could,with a soft eye, a gentle purr,or just by standing by for usto appreciate the greaterworld. Being a companionanimal holds a special place

in society. Our exotic pets are at heart nodifferent. For the owner, it is a simple rela-tionship based upon love of the felinespecies.

The way I see it, the problem comeswhen people apply the “exotic” word inreference to our pets. Some how itseems that exotics are considered lesstrustworthy to be companions, that bytheir wild heritage they can never enjoythe same status as a dog. That’s where Ithink we, as “exotic” owners, need toattack this problem. We need to pointout that captive-bred exotics are justanother branch of the animal family andthat in fact they have been, and will con-tinue to be, pets.

Now everybody who loves animalsprobably kept a pet hamster, mouse, or ger-bil as a pet in childhood. They are in fact,“exotics” now made politically correctunder the heading “pocket pets.” Guineapigs are a food animal in South America,but the ones you give your children asbeginner pets sure wouldn’t want to hearthat. On the matter of beginner pets, manychildren start out with the pocket pet previ-ously mentioned or maybe a parakeet or agoldfish. These are all “exotics” and showsthat the general public does accept thatexotics can make good pets. It’s just therarity of certain species as pets or the imag-

ined potential for injury that scares thebegeebers out of some people and makesthe “exotic pet trade” the target for fanaticswho would have us keep no pets at all.

We as a group must educate the media,the legislators, our neighbors, and the pub-lic to understand that pet exotic felines arenot the wild beasties that feed their imagi-nation or grace Saturday horror movies.Captive born exotic felines are to the edu-cated and properly prepared owner as mucha companion as your average mutt. In thewrong hands the mutt will bite you too!

We should continue to advocate respon-sible ownership of all animals—pets andbreeding stock, domestic and exotic. Wemust stress that every animal is not right forevery person, and that every captive-bredexotic feline is not born a killer at heart.

No matter what role exotic felines fill—conservation, education, performing ani-mals, or simple pet, there will be no restuntil the general public can get past the

word “exotic.” It comes down to almost amatter of species bigotry. Even certain dogbreeds are facing this prejudice. Potentiallydangerous animals of all species requirespecial care and confinement to protect thegeneral public.

Pet horses kill more people than exoticsever have, but no state proposes banningthem. Society recognizes the potential for adomestic horse to inflict injury or death andincredibly, in some states’ laws, horse own-ers can be held completely free of liabilityby simply posting a sign that states“Equines and equine activities are danger-

Guest Editorial

“Pets” is not a Four-Letter Word!

Exotic or not? Depends on your state.

We need to pointout that captive-bred

exotics are justanother branch ofthe animal family

and that in fact theyhave been, and willcontinue to be, pets.


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ous.” The same standard should be appliedto all exotics.

It doesn’t matter if your pet is a Dober-man, wolf, bobcat, savannah hybrid, or boaconstrictor, you should be required to be aresponsible owner and protect your animaland the public by providing appropriateconfinement. The rules should be the samefor all, regardless of why the animal is pos-sessed or what species it is. It’s not thespecies that is the problem; it is the owner’sfailure to control the individual animal.

The organizations who push to ban ourexotic animals really think that all speciesof animals are better off left to their owndevices, that it is wrong to be confined to acage or someone’s home. Well that’s justgreat if you were born wild and free, butalmost all exotics that share space in captiv-ity with humans were born in captivity andknow no other life. Exotic felines are usual-ly bred from docile stock that has acclimat-

ed to living in close proximity to us. Ifbeing cared for, fed and housed, and nothaving to worry about being eaten or starv-ing to death is bad, then I apologize foroppressing my pets. Those who think thatcaptive-bred animals, whether domestic orexotic should move back to the wild worldshould do so themselves and try to figureout how to survive on twigs and berries orre-learn that uncivilized “hunter gatherer”tradition from which our species sprang.

We all wish to spend a significant part ofour lives with our exotic felines. We shouldnot be divided by each of our individualreasons for possession, whether it is forpets, valuable genetics, education animals,performers, or whatever. Each role has itsplace and its purpose that supports captivebreeding and captive gene pools.

All animals remind us not to take our-selves too seriously. We are not the centerof the universe and we are not the only liv-

ing, breathing, feeling, thing the Almightyput on this planet. We all share this bluemarble and the fate of all is vested in eachother. We all have a place and a reason toexist. In the case of the lowly pet, no singlegroup has done more to teach people abouthumanity. To be humane comes directlyfrom people’s experience with not just peo-ple, but animals. The interest in and desirefor pet exotic felines supports captive con-servation breeding of the species. We petowners should be allowed to continue toassociate with our exotic companions andnot be marginalized so we can be legislatedout of existence.

In my opinion there is no greater statusan animal can hold than pet, a belovedmember of my family to be cared for,loved, and cherished, to give and be givento and mourned for at their passing.

“PETS” is not a dirty word.—Betsy Whitlock


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By Bart CulverThis book has been described as the

bible of the animal rights (AR) activists.My purpose in reading it was to discoverwhat possible reason the fanatics amongthem could have to attack our love of ani-mals. To my surprise, Scully never evenmentions the ownership of exotic pets.

The book is about whaling and the cor-ruption of the International Whaling Com-mission (IWC) by Japan and Norway. It’sabout wealthy self-indulgent hunt clubs,palliating their desire to kill large numbersof large animals by calling it conservation.It’s about canned hunts and animal experi-mentation. And of course it’s about factoryfarming, in particular, the geneticallyaltered scientific marvel known as theSmithfield ham.

Scully attends conventions, visits facto-ries and corporate offices, and reports whathe sees and hears. He is an eloquent writerable to evoke the emotions he intends. Heeasily convinces you that the practices hedescribes are repugnant, because they are.He debunks the spurious pseudo-scienceclaiming that animals are not conscious orcapable of suffering and therefore it is ok todo anything to them that will expedite theproduction of meat or medicine. In all thesethings I agree wholeheartedly.

He mentions pethood in general severaltimes, as an example of proper relationsbetween human and animal. In the midst ofan esoteric discussion about whether ani-mals are generic beings or capable of indi-vidual feelings, he says this:

“Whatever traits of personality emergein animals through human influence mustobviously be traits latent in the creaturesthemselves. We can bestow only the train-ing and influence, not the qualities. Theseare revealed through our contact with agiven animal. The potential must be there,in the nature of each animal. Pets in thisway actually draw us closer to the reality ofanimal life then do beasts of the wild—atransformation vivid to anyone who hasever taken in a stray or feral and observedthe creature slowly shedding the primalfear and voracity of its former life. Thetame animal is in a sense the most natural

Book ReviewDominion by Mathew Scully

of all, displaying qualities hidden withinhis or her own nature that only humankindness can illicit.”

This boils down to saying: to love themis to know them. Scully may be unawarethat the very same thing can be said oftame ‘wild’ animals. Nevertheless, itwould be hard to go on from that statementand decry anyone’s love of any animal asmisguided, and Scully doesn’t try.

As a Christian conservative, he doesn’teven frame his arguments in terms of ani-mal rights. To him, it’s about dominion asstewardship, which implies a duty to affordmercy to the helpless. This is the GoldenRule—the essence of Christianity and pre-cisely the same as the Hindu concept ofAhimsa: justice for every living thing. It isthe common ground upon which all earth-lings must make their last stand together.

At this point I’m thinking this man is notour enemy and he could become ourfriend. But in the end, Scully disappointsme. After a monumental, compassionate,and reasoned description of a complexproblem Scully seems exhausted by theeffort. He commits the cardinal sin of cul-tural engineers, and reaches for the sim-plistic solution: thou shall not harm ani-mals and to make sure of that, thou shaltnot have animals. Like others before him,Scully throws out the baby with the bath-water.

In support of other arguments, he makestwo incongruous statements which bythemselves are totally unsupported and fallof their own weight. They are the onlystatements he makes in the entire book thatI disagree with but they are whoppers. Theproblem is that AR fanatics—who think in


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simplistic sound bites—will cherry-pickthem out of this book, consider themproven, and make fund-raising slogans outof them. Therefore I consider it necessaryto refute them.

1.) Scully briefly describes the dismalsituation of mega vertebrates in the wildand the portent of a projected human popu-lation of ten billion. He admits he doesn’thave the answer and presumes no one elsedoes, (i.e. there is no such thing as virtuousanimal husbandry) so he concludes, “it isbetter to just let them go...there are fatesworse then extinction.” This epitomizes thementality of AR fanatics, who only careabout the suffering they and their contribu-tors can see. They seem unable to conceiveof the infinitely greater suffering they can’tsee. His statement is dead wrong for tworeasons:

(A) Extinctions have a nasty way of cas-cading up and down the food chain, rightup to the front door of you and your chil-dren. Extinctions are severed threads in thefabric of life – harbingers of doom. Likewater in a submarine, extinction is some-thing you ignore at your peril.

(B) Extinction is not an abrupt event likeeuthanasia. It’s a long and agonizingprocess for every individual. It is torture ona gigantic scale. You don’t just becomeextinct. You are driven to extinction. Theremay be fates worse then death, but therecannot possibly be anything worse thenbeing driven to extinction.

2.) Eager to stop canned hunts at anycost, Scully supports laws against posses-sion and transport of wild animals for anypurpose. Once again he’s oblivious to theexistence of virtuous animal husbandry, sohe suddenly blurts out, “No one has theright to own a lion or a bear or any wildcreature.” Those of us who understand thecondition of nature and the nature of ani-mals, know better than Scully that the high-er mammals are not only conscious andcapable of suffering, they are also capableof love and trust. When given love, theyreturn it. We also know that the enormoussuffering caused by habitat destruction can-not be stopped simply by leaving animalsalone. Habitat restoration and protection,and benevolent captivity are all necessary.FCF members are among those who haveproven beyond refute that in benevolentcaptivity, animals can be so happy and

healthy that they outlive their wild counter-parts twice over. In today’s wild waste-lands, mangled by human greed, billions ofwild creatures are suffering fates far worsethen the loss of freedom.

Our purpose in harboring these refugeesfrom the decimation of the wild is beyondreproach. We are the vanguard of a newsymbiosis of human and animal based onlove, not greed —life, not death. We have aratio of caregiver to animals much higherthen AZA zoos, making loving care a prac-tical reality. If we sell an animal, it is onlyto someone else that will love it as we do.No other form of animal husbandry is sovirtuous. Not even the AZA zoos, whoserules forbid affection between animal andkeeper, whose criticism of private sectorownership is monopolistic propaganda, andwhose conservation work is so often a ruseto circumvent CITES and take animalsfrom the wild to add to their menagerieseven though their SSPs were supposed tostop this.

In order to prevent some people fromharming animals, AR fanatics have noexcuse to take from all people the right tolove animals. Forcing us to have nothing todo with animals is not an act of love. It isthe height of folly. Scully is not a fool buthe is dangerous. His facility with languageand his obvious sincerity have made himthe prophet of many fools and the hugegaps in this thinking will become theirs.

Scully does not discuss the conservationissue seriously. He confesses that the floodof humanity is the problem yet this pro-fessed Christian dares to dismiss the exam-ple of Noah as irrelevant to our time. Thisdogmatism must be the reason that hewould advocate laws designed to managecaptive tiger populations to extinction whenhe knows tigers are doomed in the wild.

The exact nature of being driven toextinction is becoming hard for caring peo-ple to ignore. The August 6, 2007 issue ofNewsweek magazine carries a story‘Slaughter in the Jungle,’ about the despica-ble execution style massacre of mountaingorillas in the Congo. After a pregnantfemale was shot, she was burned—a mes-sage that this was revenge against rangerscampaigning against the charcoal industrythat is destroying the gorilla habitat. Allover the world, nature is being murdered,not by people who are starving, but by peo-ple who are getting rich. It’s the fools andcharlatans who try to stop the only thingthat has a chance to save the few remaininginnocent creatures on Earth.

Robert Oppenheimer, upon seeing thefirst atomic bomb explode, thought of theHindu Veda “Now I am become death,destroyer of worlds.” If AR ideologues donot reign in the fanaticism their half-bakedrhetoric has unleashed, they will soon findthemselves uttering Oppenheimer’slament.•

The Zoological Association Of Americainvites you to join

There are several levels of membership - Associate, ProfessionalZooculturist, Public Facility, Non-public Facility and Commercial.Membership fees vary and some levels require sponsorship.ZAOA web site: www.zaoa.org

email: [email protected] write: Zoological Association of America

1101 West Sligh AveTampa, FL 33604813-935-8552 ext 310

An organization of Zoos and Zooculturists supporting conservation,propagation & preservation.


12

In the Presenceof Wildcats

By Thierry PlaudWe all know that feeling of being happy

and fulfilled in the presence of wildcats butthen have to return to the so-called “realworld” with a lot of work, problems, con-flicts, contradictions. I was in the middle ofsuch a stream of negative events havingfaced the death of my beloved Newfound-land Pilou and seeing my marriage slowlybut steadily breaking apart. I had the feel-ing that I had to find a place where I couldthink clearly about what to do with my lifeamong dear friends and animals that I loveand what could be a better place than BearCreek Feline Sanctuary where surely myfriend Jim Broaddus and his wife Bertiewould help me to enjoy life again. A fewemails later we arranged a two weeks staybeginning August 1 but I was warned that

Northern Florida weather would most like-ly be extreme heat and humidity. Indeedeveryday spent there the temperatures werein the 90s and humidity close to 100%!

When I began my certification process,Bear Creek was my very first internship sothe place remains very special to me. Sincethen I have completed several other intern-ships and was fortunate enough to workwith 21 different felids species in many dif-ferent places around the world.

We had been in constant contact withJim. I even helped him save a male Siber-ian lynx from certain death in a fur farm inCanada. Jim is quite an extraordinary per-son, one of these people to have “seen thelight” after what most people would call anormal life but that Jim sees as his “darkperiod.” He explained to me that this was

the two and a half decades that he spent inbroadcasting. He claims that he “left onewild business for another.” He doesn’t talkmuch about that era.

Apart from the male Siberian lynx, sev-eral other new animals had come to BearCreek for their permanent home. Amongthem was a pair of six-month-old servalsdelivered by Caesarean section from Aza,my beloved female serval that Jim obtainedfrom Lynn Culver. Also present was afemale caracal that had been, according toJim’s words, “tragically misunderstood,”having spent the first five years of her lifein a room with a serval until one day shekilled her serval roommate, which dictatedto her owner to part with her. Another newarrival was a female Siberian lynx ownedas a pet that had become unmanageable for


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her owner and had come to Bear Creek tospend the rest of her life.

From that point it became very clear thatI would not be able to spend a lot of timewith every animal so I would have to makea choice. I was also curious to see if myfurry friends would greet me or if I wouldbe treated as a complete stranger after ayear away from them.

I really love servals and intend to have acouple of them in the future, plus I helpedAza to overcome a bit of depression lastyear after the loss of her litter, so the ser-vals were an obvious choice.

Jim insisted that Sally, the female cara-cal obviously hated people, being veryhissy. She desperately needed someone tohelp her to regain trust in human beingsagain and Jim hoped that I could help her.This challenge would be very rewarding ifI succeeded, so I took it.

Jim was also curious to see if Dani, thefemale high percentage Florida Pantherwould accept someone other than him inher enclosure and I was curious about thistoo because she is quite a character!

I found that the Jaguarundi’s were quitewild and I quickly surmised that it wouldtake more time than I had on this trip toeven think about bonding with them.

I figured there was time to work with atleast one additional species of Bear Creek’ssix and I selected Hero the male lynx andNatacha, a mature female and the firstfemale at Bear Creek.

The trip to Florida was uneventful. Icould not fly as crew on Air France, theairline that I am employed as a pilot, so Iflew Delta Airline and they lost my lug-gage, which remained in the Atlanta airportfor 10 days without any explanation despitenumerous phone calls. So I had to live inPanama City borrowing clothes and ameni-ties. This entire story is now a customaryjoke at Bear Creek. Being an airline pilotand traveling with Air France, my employ-er most of the time, I was not aware of allthe hassle that passengers have to gothrough. What a nightmare!

A good meal was waiting for me when Iarrived at Jim and Bertie’s place (thank youBertie) but I was, of course, curious to seeall the cats so Jim gave me a tour. Jim’sfacility had improved from very good toexcellent and all the cats I had met last yearbehaved like “hey you are back again.Where have you been?” The new cats were

a different story: Sally the caracal hissed atme and went to hide inside her den box. Jimtold me that she behaved like this witheveryone. The two young servals werewary and the two new lynxes either ignoredme or challenged me a little bit. Shakiraseemed to take pleasure the first two orthree days blocking my exit of the cage. Onthis first evening, once in bed I knew that Ihad a long way to go before being acceptedby the newcomers.

I spent the next couple days observingthem, which means basically I sat in thecage and did nothing, trying to forget my

human being part so as to learn what kindof mindset those cats had. There I noticedthat neither Sally nor Shakira were afraid ofhuman beings. (Remember those two werereared by humans.) They just seemed not tolike people. Hero, the Siberian from the furfarm, was surprisingly laid back but wouldnot allow anyone to approach him, whileNatacha, the older female, seemed veryfrustrated by the presence of the youngernewcomer Shakira, a feeling any womancould easily understand! The servals were,well, serval-like, sometimes playful, some-time hissy, but always loving. Dani the pan-


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ther was just the same as last year, lookingat me with her very concerned and seriouseyes that I interpreted as “So, what am Igoing to do with you?”

After this initial approach I set up mystrategy for each animal, based on the mostimportant things for any cat—having fun,eating good food, and doing some interest-ing stuff. The only problem is, of course, tofind what kind of thing they consider asinteresting stuff.

Jim is what most interns consider as theideal manager that is very trusting andalways positive. I told him about my pro-jects and he would be like “good, do yourstuff, and tell me about it.”

My approach and technique was verydifferent for every cat. I had noticed thatbesides Sally’s hostility to the human race(I can understand this) she was also veryfood oriented, so I began to spend longhours in her cage sitting about five to sixyards from her, talking to her and getting

closer, inch by inch, until she would showsigns of discomfort at which point I wouldback off for about ten inches. The messageI tried to send her was, “I wanna be close toyou but if you feel I am too close, then Ishall back off because I do not want tomake you feel uncomfortable.”

Within three days I was able to approachher within less than a yard. One day Sallylooked at me, climbed to her platform andturned her back on me, her way of tellingme “You are not a threat anymore.” At thispoint I began to bring different toys insideher cage. The caracal in the wild preys onfairly large animals for their size (like smallantelopes) so the toys I brought to her werefairly big toys until finding one that shereally liked. Suddenly she decided to playwith that toy and we had a kind of routineestablished. Major break through, Ithought! The next phase was the hand feed-ing process. I would come every eveningwith her food, telling her the very same

thing and she quickly began to accept foodfrom my hands and stay there to eat itinstead of fleeing to her den box. From thispoint I knew that she eventually would trustother human beings again. I kept on comingto her cage, very often at night. (Caracalsare nocturnal cats so they tend to be moretrusting after daylight) When I left after twoweeks we had established such a bond thatshe would come to me, lick my hair or arm,bite her toy so as to tell me “time to play.”

The lynx were a bigger problem becausethey were all different characters and therewere three in one enclosure and as any wildcat handler knows, you must “keep youreyes on the cats.” I was confident that thefemale Natacha would resume our playingif she was not too upset by the youngerfemale Shakira, and I was right. She didresume the playing and decided one daythat my shoes were the most interested toyson earth. Because I had not gotten my lug-gage back at this time, these shoes were the


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wild!Meanwhile the young girl, Shakira, was

still challenging me but was also the moreactive of the three. My early play attemptswith Hero, the fur farm male, were com-pletely unsuccessful so I concentrated onplaying with the females. Lynx prey mostlyon rabbits and snow partridges so I began tomimic those critters with a toy. (Just imag-ine a middle-aged Frenchman imitating therabbit squeak, squeaky voice and Frenchaccent included. Quite a show for the otherinterns.) She did respond almost immedi-ately and in spite of the extreme heat(remember, Siberians are very cold weatheranimals) she kept on playing until I decidedto stop because of her heavy panting. Afterthis first session I decided that we wouldhave two sessions a day early in the morn-ing and in the late afternoon. These sessionswould be short so as not to exhaust her. Shewas so much enjoying her time that we hadseveral good photo shoots with her, andFCF members will have the opportunity tolook at the picture on the cover of this issueof the FCF magazine.

While we were playing like crazy, Herowas obviously very interested but all myattempts had failed with him and I won-dered why. He seemed very comfortablewith me and never hissed at me when I waswith him in the enclosure, even letting me

only ones that I had so I had to keep themor walk bare feet. I said, “Natacha No” in afirm voice. She backed off but decided thatmy shoes were just too interesting andcame back trying to pull them off my feet. Isaid again, “Natacha NO” in a louder voiceand got for this a big slap on my cheek. Iknew that she had not used her claws but Ifelt a little bit knocked out. I resumed theplaying when I felt some kind of liquiddripping down my shirt—my own blood. Icalmly left the enclosure and advancedtoward the bathroom and checked my face.A two millimeter deep scratch was runningfrom under my eye to my mouth and pour-ing blood. She did not use her claws, other-wise I would have been scarred for life butmost likely the tip of one of her giant frontclaws (Siberian have really big front clawsfor their size) went slightly out of the sheathduring the slap. Needless to say, I decidedto be much more cautious with the two oth-ers which were supposed to be even more

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approach him at very close range. I hadnoticed that he seemed much more com-fortable when he was staying in a narrowplace, probably because his former life atthe fur farm was spent in a 6'x6'x5' metalcage. So, I figured that if he was ever toplay with me, he would do it in a confinedplace. One day I waited for him to go inthe shade under his platform. Right onspot, he immediately began to play withdelight and kept it that way until the end ofmy stay.

As for Dani the panther, she obviouslywanted to make all of the decisions. Jimand I spent some time each day with herbut neither of us could be sure about the

decision for me to remain alone in theenclosure with this powerful cat. The timespent with big cats (lions and cheetahs) inother facilities helped me a lot because Iknew that at some point she would test meand that the result of this test would decideif I could safely go in with her. The testhappened the fourth day. I was with Jim,both of us sitting at one side of the enclo-sure when Dani suddenly ran directlytoward me and changed direction at thevery last moment, avoiding me by a coupleinches. She did this several times, and thensat resting under her tree facing me. Jimhad to go and do some work so I asked himif I could stay there alone with Dani. I am

not sure what he was thinking at thismoment but his voice remained completelyconfident when he answered, “yes ofcourse.” He might have also added, “Cry ifit hurts!” As soon as he left, Dani and Ilooked at each other and she had a kind ofmischievous look in her eyes like “so weare alone now, what am I gonna do withyou?” This lasted about 30 long secondsduring which I kept on talking to her, thenshe completely relaxed and from that daylet me come in with her without beinguncomfortable. We began to play togetherthe following day and had a lot of fun butnever got to the same intimacy that sheshares with Jim with hugs and purring. Sheremained a little bit wary of me from timeto time, which is not very surprising giventhe fact that we have spent a total of lessthan three weeks together.

My girlfriend Aza the serval was asfriendly as when I left last year and with thehelp of lots of toys and raw fish I befriend-ed Shena and Bonsoir the young servalwithout any problems. As for servals, mybiggest surprise was Chakka, one of themales. I had played a lot with him last year,and during the first week he would not letme pet him without hissing. One night, aftermy play session with Sally, I entered hisenclosure that is adjacent to Sally for whatwas supposed to be a short play session. Tomy complete surprise he was not interestedat all by his favorite play but came right tome, lying on my legs and purring loudly,obviously begging to be petted. The “lovesession” lasted more than an hour and untilthe end of my stay that night. He was one ofthe most adorable animals that I ever met. Ikeep on trying to understand what had beendifferent that day but have no answer and infact I prefer it that way. The cats have tokeep their own mysteries!

Then it was time to come back to the“real world.” One more time I had learned alot, but still do not know much about cats.My mind was more at peace and I knewdeep inside that cats would somehow keepon sharing my life, even if a lot of peoplearound me call me crazy. Once more, BearCreek had worked its magic and I wouldencourage any FCF members or cat loversto visit the place if they feel ready to facethe northern Florida weather.

Cats told me a long time ago how to liveone’s life: Keep going and no regrets. •


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People began checking into the South-fork Hotel on Tuesday night for the FCFHusbandry Course. On Wednesday certi-fied instructor Carol Bohning taught a classof 30 eager minds the eight modules of hus-bandry basics—natural history, nutrition,routine health care, caging, regulations,contingency plans and more. By 6:00 pmthe students were filing out of the room,having taken their final exam and wonder-ing if they passed. (See zoo manager andhusbandry course student June Bellizzi cri-tique in another article.)

Other attendees had arrived throughoutWednesday, including two internationalguests, Anne-Sophie Bertrand from Braziland Fernando Vidal from Chile, attendingFCF board members, Lynn Culver, BrianWerner, Kevin Chambers, Elizabeth Whit-lock, Evelyn Shaw, Mindy Stinner, and JBAnderson checked in so they could meetfirst thing Thursday morning for the annualFCF board of directors meeting. (See theFCF board of directors minutes.)

FCF member Vickie Keahey’s In-SyncExotic’s facility is just a 20-minute drivefrom the hotel and several carloads ofmembers wanting a big cat fix made theoptional field trip Thursday morning.

By mid afternoon the Southfork Hotelwas filling up with feline ambiance. KellieNavarro and her young leash-trained bobkitten Miss Meerah were making therounds with FCF members and the hotel’s‘sports kids’ that were running up anddown the hallways. Miss Meerah is,according to Kellie, docile-by-choice,’ adelightful way of describing her lynx rufussuperiorensous. Miss Meerah is in trainingfor educational and ambassador work.Other four-legged visitors were J.R. puma,Lucy Geoffroy’s, and Sue Ellen bobcatbrought by Lynn Culver. They settled inover by the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. booth in theFCF hospitality suite. Theresa Shafferbrought four adorable serval bottle-babiesand a 9-week-old serval called Mr. WhiteToes. This sweet guy sported a custom-sewn spotted fabric walking jacket andleash. Regina and Gary Hardison kept theirbig boys Romeo the Siberian lynx andDiesel the bobcat discretely confined to

their hotel room but word got out and FCFmembers visited them throughout the con-vention.

Registration went smoothly, with 100nametags being distributed and programguides picked up. The number of vendorsdisplaying at this year’s convention weredown from years past, but that meant thateach vendor got more attention. SanctuarySupplies brought boomer balls and magnet-ic car signs and plenty of good stuff to buy.Judy Jezl arrived to operate the AnimalCapture Equipment booth full of nets, train-ing aids, enrichment ideas, and to deliver abatch of custom embroidered FCF logopolo shirts. For anyone who didn’t attendconvention, these shirts are still available inS, M, L, XL, and XXL for $29.00 plus$7.00 shipping and handling. Send yoursize and check to the FCF treasurer. TheFCF ocelot head logo and name is in fullcolor and very smart looking. ‘Wild Things

and More’ is Betty Holding, a native Texan,and the painted rock lady who has beengraciously stocking the FCF e-bay storewith her original creations. To see Betty’swork in person you can’t help but beimpressed by her carefully chosen roundriver rocks worn smooth by the water,painted shiny black as backdrop for heroriginal portraits of feline species she handpaints. These are not stencils, no two arealike and her artistic ability makes theserocks gorgeous. Sara Comstock brought anassortment of feline collector’s plates forsale at her booth. Harrie’s Plastics displayedplastic animal furniture, slide doors, floors,and more and was manned by Nancy Nigh-swander, who was also in charge of theU.A.P.P.E.A.L. booth. Harrie picked up ona lot of visitor traffic being next to thisbooth, because of the three live felines ondisplay, Sue Ellen, Lucy, and the star of theshow, J.R. puma. These young ambassadors

The 2007 FCF Convention in Dallas TexasAn Overview

Theresa Shaffer shares her 9-week old serval with Carol Bohning.

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helped focus our attention on the attack oftheir very existence in human society bymisguided animal rights backed legislationcalled the Haley’s Act, which will prohibitthe touching of young cats by any memberof the public. The fear of losing our rightsto pet the puma generated a slew of newU.A.P.P.E.A.L. supporters to fund the lob-byist hired to oppose the Haley Act bill.(Read more in the Petting Puma article)

Many familiar faces filtered in duringthe day’s events as well as a cast of new-comers. Doc Antle brought two babyorangutans hanging in slings over his and

Mokshu Bybee’s shoulders. An unexpectedvisit from Peggy Rice, Texas USDAexhibitor returning from a party in fullclown costume with her sidekick capuchinmonkey stopped by to cool off. Donateditems had been logged in and membersbrowsed the goodies and bid in the silentauction. Only a dozen special items werereserved for the live auc-tion Saturday night. Theice-breaker wet bar andfinger food was offeredright on-time to round outthe sensory experience—food, friends, felines, and’freshments made for theperfect end to a reallysmooth day.

Friday the buses loadedup for the drive to the Dal-las Zoo. We arrived atopening and were greetedand briefed by Ken Kaem-merer, updating us on thevarious behind-the-scenestours arranged for our ben-efit. Being the end of Julyin Dallas, the weather wasnot overwhelmingly hot,but the locals know to timetheir visits in the springand fall, so it wasn’tcrowded. In fact, the man-ager of the gift shop want-ed to know more about us

and commented that it was rare to have agroup of adults visiting this time of year.

The tiger exhibit was by far the bestfeline habitat, fully landscaped with waterfeatures, tropical bamboo, and other rain-forest looking plants that hid the tall chainlink fence. On the side the public viewed,one looked through what appeared to be a

“Fighting to preserve the rights of responsibleexotic animal owners”

Mark McDaniel, presidentPhone:(601) 497-3850 - FAX:(601) 847-5045

email [email protected] learn more or to join using the online

membership form visit:www.UAPPEAL.org

U.A.P.P.E.A.L. has retained The FergusonGroup lobby team and is currently opposingHaley’s Act (SB1947) and the Captive PrimateSafety Act (SB1498). Your membership and

donations are greatly appreciated.

Capuchin held by June Bellizzi ofthe Catoctin WildlifePreserve and Zoo.

People crowd around the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. booth to pet the puma and other exotic cats.

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stand of about three inch thick bambootrunks, however close examination revealedit was really metal posts complete withwhat appeared to be ‘growth segments’ andpainted green to look like bamboo, setabout two inches apart and a very thick hotwire strung inside, making a very neateffect of seemingly no fence between usand the tigers.

The behind-the-scenes tour of the ele-phants demonstrated their behavior trainingto lift feet for pedicures and present parts oftheir body for exams. Those who attendedthe rhino tour got to feed apples and evenget close enough to feel the creature’sstrange skin.

In the afternoon, the buses filled for thetrip to Southfork Ranch where the famousDallas TV show opening scene of theEwing family home was shot. The museumtour was kind of hokey (how long can youmilk an 80’s show?) but this writer was aserious fan of the series and the artifactsbrought back memories. One wall con-tained the Ewing family tree with all theDallas show characters and their variousinter-relatedness through marriage. I hadforgotten that Bobby’s wife, Pam, was CliffBarn’s sister, and of course Cliff Barn’sfather was Digger Barns, a direct wildcatoil competitor to Jock Ewing. The inside ofthe home (which by today’s standards

would not even qualify as one of thosegated community McMansions) was a trib-ute to the Ewing family. However I didn’trecognize the furnishings and wonderedhow that big family and a TV crew of cam-eras and producers could fit in it. That’swhen we learned the show was actuallyfilmed in California and this house wasonly used for the outside shots!

Tour over, we assembled to talk FCFbusiness in air-conditioned comfort. After

all, the whole purpose of the Southforkranch was to kidnap the members and holdthem captive for the general membershipmeeting. The idea worked. With over 80members in attendance, a multitude of top-ics were discussed. (See General Member-ship minutes.)

Afterward we had a feast awaiting us.Cowboy entertainers told jokes and sangsongs in the background. I have eaten plen-ty of barbeque in my life, but never any-thing so delicious as that night. The brisketwas tender; the coleslaw delicious, thepotato salad was out of this world! I am notkidding, I would love to have that recipe.(Was it made with whipped cream?) Themeal was topped off with apple cobbler anda generous mound of fresh whipped creamand the room was full of satisfied conven-tioneers ready to be rounded up and busedback to the hotel.

Saturday we listened to six speakerswhile Deborah Rabinski and Rick Hilder-brant unveiled the FCF feline art show forpublic viewing. Artists Debbie St. James,Laura Walker, Rochelle Mason, and LindaDuPuis-Rosen each took turns visiting withart admirers. J.R., Sue Ellen, and Lucy, ourliving feline artifacts, held court in the backof the room. (See Deborah Rabinski andRegina Hardison’s account of the art show)

We listened to FCF conservation advisorJim Sanderson update us on his world trav-els and the status of wild cats in variouscountries. Artists Rochelle Mason and

FCF members (right) snap pictures on the expansive ranch lawn.

Cowboys entertain at banquet.

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Linda DuPuis-Rosen shared their personallife stories that led to their interest in catsand desire to paint these magnificent crea-tures. Anne-Sophie Bertrand reported onher efforts in Brazil to study margays in thewild. (Read Anne-Sophie’s Conventionexperience.)

Fernando Vidal gave us an eye-openinglook at the situation in Chile with this coun-try’s unique native wildlife and plant lifethat has evolved in isolation due to beingbordered by extreme desert, the Andesmountain range and ocean. (See Tom Har-vey’s article.)

Ken Kaemmerer updated us on the FCFsponsored project to translocate Mexicanocelots in Mexico in preparation to some-day translocate this rare species into south-ern Texas to increase genetic diversity. JoelSlaven showed a variety of video clips ofhis domestic animal and wild animal train-ing and acts he has produced for Sea Worldand Busch Gardens, stressing all the timethe importance of making training fun, andletting the feline show you what behavior itis good at, and then reinforcing that naturalbehavior with food treats. Bill Williamsonshowed a video of various concrete enclo-sure enhancements, running the gamut

New items at the store: The Savannah Cheetah Foundation DVD with Dr. Antle—listen and watch the video while Nikitatells her story! Watch and listen to Doc Antle tell us about the cheetah chase and his visit to Africa’s premiere spot, the Savannah Cheetah Foundation! • Beanie Babies! We have an assortment of Ty Beanie Babies up for auction! • Jahari’sAdventure Read-Along storybook and DVD. Listen, watch, and read as you travel with Jahari!

http://fcfauctionstore.com/http://stores.ebay.com/Feline-Conservation-Federation

Going once! Going twice! Sold!

Hobbyists: Can you make jewelry? Do you paint? Are you gifted with arts and crafts? Need that extra spend-ing money for Christmas? Got a bunch of stuff hidden in that attic? Or in that closet? Don’t throw it away! If itis resellable and in good to excellent condition, help supply the FCF eBay store with your items!

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J.R., Sue Ellen, and Lucy (L-R) do what kittens do best.


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from waterfall walls in big city zoos to resi-dential backyard makeovers.

The evening banquet began with a fullservice happy hour while conventioneersfinished up silent auction bidding and casttheir vote for the journal photo contest.After a full Italian theme buffet dinner, theawards ceremony was kicked off by MikeFriese announcing this year’s members’choice award which was a two-way tie ofphoto contributions between Mace Loftusand Mace Loftus. Theirry Plaud’s internexperiences and enrichment article from theJanuary 2007 issue won editor’s choice forreporter of the year. Carol Bohning calledout husbandry course graduates and pre-sented them certificates of completion. Andthis year we had a passel of new awards.Head Cat Wrangler Elizabeth Whitlock didthe honor of presenting the following:Madame I D Fleas for best dressed womanwent to Kellie Navarro. Joel Slaven wonSir Tom Cat for best-dressed man. FCF’sMiss Kitty for cow girl was a very closecall, with two ladies going all out in fullwestern flair, hats, boots, studs, belts, jew-elry, the works! Reva Anderson edged overSandra Nabeta. FCF’s JB Anderson, in‘Elvis-gone-country disguise’ won CatRoper for Cowboy Man. Our King of theJungle was Brian Werner in full tiger cos-tume and young Danielle Finley wonQueen of the Jungle. Certificates of appre-ciation were awarded to Fernando Vidal forthe person who traveled the farthest, GailLaviola for all the journal stuffing she does,Sara Comstock for managing the eBaystore, Deborah Rabinski for organizing theFCF first ever benefit feline art show, andeditor Mike Friese for raising the bar on theFCF Journal. Lynn Culver awarded both JBAnderson and Robert Turner, directors thathave stepped down this year, with a recog-nition certificate for their years of service tothe FCF. Evelyn Shaw presented decorativewall certificates to Bill Meadows, JohnTurner, Matt Baker, Nancy Nighswander,Sara Comstock, and Wayne Sluder, the newFCF Regional Directors. Mindy Stinnerawarded Jim Sanderson the new FCFmember voted Feline Conservation Recog-nition plaque for his tireless work docu-menting and protecting the world’s smallcat species. FCF’s highest award, the Lotty,was presented by past recipient NanetteMcGann to Director of Husbandry and cer-tified course instructor, Carol Bohning.

The end of the awards signaled thebeginning of the live auction. Abe VaskinBasmajian was volunteered for auctioneerafter he mistakenly said he had taken acourse in auctions. What he meant was acourse on how to buy and sell, but heck thatwas close enough for us and he was ropedin for the job. Abe helped to generate over$4,000 total from the silent and live auc-tions. Some of the highlights of the liveauction were a full printed set of theLIOC/FCF 50 years of newsletters scannedfrom the originals, with extra pages in colornot ever seen in the distributed copies.Carefully assembled into six large three-ring binders, the set was won by Fred Boy-ajian for an astounding $600! Another bid-

ding war broke out between Brian and Fredon a pewter tiger statue with Brian’s final$500 bid winning the artwork. The finale tothe day’s long list of events was a 15minute stand-up comedy act by David Sol,FCF member from California whoseunique brand of humor centers around hisexperiences with his tiger buddy Raja andthe strange world we cat keepers live in.Saved for last because a few of his jokeswere slightly blue, a full day ended inchuckles and laughter.

Sunday morning many of the FCF atten-dees drove to Tyler, Texas to enjoy a tour ofVice President Brian Werner’s facility TigerCreek Wildlife Refuge, ending this yearlyevent with a final big cat fix. •


23

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CafePress.com accepts onlycredit card or debit cards withthe Visa, Mastercard logo. Nomail in orders at this time, butyou can call in your order 877-809-1659 or you can log in athttp://www.cafepress.com/the-fcf. Please have product num-ber!

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Taking pictures of tigers behind the scenes at the Dallas Zoo.

N.O.A.H. Feline ConservationCenter has the following kittensfor sale:

Male cougar, born early June. J.R.spent five days in Dallas with FCFmembers and his photos are in thisissue. He is for sale to USDAlicensed educational or exhibithome.Geoffroy’s kittens, unrelated spot-ted male and female, born earlyJuly.One spotted and one black femaleGeoffroy, born end of August.Caracal kittens born early Septem-ber.Call Lynn Culver 479-394-5235 forpricing and more information onthese kittens.

http://www.noahfcc.com


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By June Bellizzi, General Curator,Catoctin Wildlife Preserve & Zoo

It’s 3:15 am and I am off to BWI Airportto begin an adventure. I’m armed with threedifferent reference books on exotic cats totry and cement all this information into mybrain. I have been anticipating taking thehusbandry course since I first heard of it inSan Antonio in the fall of 2006at a ZAOA conference. My zoohad decided to host the hus-bandry course in the earlyspring of 2007. As unexpectedthings happen, my boss, hiswife, and their grandson wereinvolved in an awful car acci-dent and the plans for the coursewere sent to the back burner.(They are all fine now and onthe last of the mend.)

I arrived at Dallas airport and tried tofind a shuttle for the hotel. All shuttles aremarked for Mary Kay Representatives.Okay, think for a moment, Mary Kay Cos-metics and zookeeper or exotic animal peo-ple… Nothing against Mary Kay butbleached marked pants and an animal t-shirtis a far cry from the well-dressed, nicesmelling Mary Kay representatives.

The Mary Kay folks responded to menegatively until they found out what I did.We all know how those conversations go. Itis nice however to share what we do withthose that wouldn’t do it in a thousand yearsbut say how cool they thought it was.

I arrived in Dallas a day early so that Icould settle in and study my referencebooks a bit more. On Wednesday, I timidlyarrived at the room set with tables, chairs,and many folks who had the same look ontheir faces. Carol Bohning introduced her-

self and then began to pass out these “man-uscripts” and the empty feeling in the stom-ach grew larger… but as the day pro-gressed, it was gratifying to me that Iseemed to know a good deal of the infor-mation. Osmosis is wonderful! Still loom-ing over our heads was the test.

The information that was shared byCarol and her well-preparedhandbook was great. Each per-son in the room came with dif-ferent levels of experience andwoes. I came into this with aslightly different perspective.My place of employment is azoo in contrast to many whohad sanctuaries or private facil-ities. The information in thecourse was applicable to both,

and in my opinion it is a course that anyonein this business as a seasoned professionalor a newcomer should take. With anythingthere are differences in how things areaccomplished. Building housingareas, shifting areas, platforms,and so forth can vary greatlyfrom place to place. Recom-mendations on wire gauge,types, and lessons learned werepriceless. The guidelines that arepresented are a strong founda-tion to begin, from there, the skyand your budget is the limit. Discussions onhow to handle a difficult inspection, how tohandle the ever increasing laws and bans onanimals, and the best way for each andeveryone of us to comply with and coverour butts to optimize the lives of the catswe all are here for.

Test time! As most of us began to sweatbullets, the test was passed out. Once it was

all over and the papers turned in, the greatsigh of relief which I was hoping for turnedinto a “What if I didn’t pass? How can I goback to Maryland to work?”

After a good night’s sleep, I looked for-ward to the ice breaker reception and meet-ing many of the people that I have talked toon the phone for years, but never met. I amalways amazed at conferences as to themass of people that arrive—some firsttimers and others seasoned veterans. Noneof that matters, most all are of a like-mindand interest, and all on the edge of the bellcurve. You all know we animal folks aredifferent or is it just everyone else?

Mindy Stinner kept me busy with silentauction items in-between the non-humanguests that flowed in and out of the room:bobcats, servals, orangutans, a capuchin,and two lovely Chesapeake retrievers.Thanks Mindy for making me feel right athome.

Friday featured a visit to Dallas Zoo andSouthfork Ranch! Our CatWranglers made sure that wewere all on our buses and fol-lowed all of the instructions. Atthe zoo we were treated to anumber of behind-the-scenesareas and ample time to tour thezoo and even a ride on acarousel. Southfork was fun if

you were a fan of Dallas, the series, as Iwas. The cowboy serenade, stories, andchow were good. After that long day, I wasready for bed.

Saturday was chock full of information,stories, and serious conservation informa-tion. With all that we learn, it shows justhow much we don’t know, and without theefforts of Jim, Fernando, Anne, and count-less others, so many wonderful creatureswould disappear from the earth. It’s timefor us all to step up and help these effortswith whatever support we can.

Dinner was next on the agenda and themuch-anticipated silent and live auction.

There was so much to do, so many won-derful people to meet and great stories andcats. I am so grateful that I had the opportu-nity attend, make some new friends, meetold friends, and have a purrrfect time. Ilook forward to next year’s conference andseeing you all again.

P.S. I passed! •

Dallas Husbandry Course Experience

Carol held herground as to thecries for an openbook test, can’t

hurt to try.

I timidly arrivedat the room set

with tables,chairs, and many

folks who hadthe same look on

their faces.

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25

By Tom HarveyIt’s always exciting to go to the conven-

tion to hear the latest updates on the GreatCats of our planet. Sadly, the news is neverany better than the year before. Jim Sander-son has been on a never-ending quest forthe flat-headed cats in southern Thailand.All of Southeast Asia is a hotbed for thesmall cats. The fishing cat is one that is notbeing found. Another one that has neverbeen photographed in the wild is the Chi-nese mountain cat.

Fernando Vidal operates Fauna Andina,dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation ofnative species and the breeding of endan-gered species.

Ferando is also the only person in theworld known to have both a male andfemale guiña (oncifelis guigna.) This hasbeen a long process, as Fernando has notwanted to deliberately capture a wildfemale. Receiving their first orphan female,plans are in the making to breed the two.The male guiña has been at the facility foreight years. The rescue center has done alot of work on the protection of pumas,capturing and translocating problem cats,and also fighting illegal hunting of pumas.

In the last 100 years Chile has lost over50% of their forest. With the Pacific Oceanon the western coastline and the AtacamaDesert, the driest in the world on the eastside of the Andes, Chile stretches over2700 miles along the southwestern coast ofSouth America, a distance roughly thesame as that from San Francisco to NewYork. At the same time its width neverexceeds 150 miles, making the countrymore than 18 times longer than its widestpoint. These factor in the difficulty of habi-tat fragmentation, that is as forest are cutdown and natural resources such as copper,iron ore, precious metals, wood products,and hydropower are a priority for the coun-try, the native species will pay the price.This is a factor that our whole planet is fac-ing.

What can be done to help nature?1. Field researchers have to get the govern-ment and the local people involved.2. Confirm the research with camera trap-ping.

3. Capture and radio collar.4. Determine and mitigate any threats.5. Monitor high conservation value popula-tion.

Good science is necessary but not suffi-cient for good conservation.

What is the plan?1. Get help2. Ask others to help and be patient. Forinstance, the flat headed cat was caught oncamera in 1996—no more pictures until2005. Hundreds of thousands of picturesand just two of the flat headed cat!3. Follow through with conservation by:

• Identifying areas of high conservationvalue.• Establishing long-term presence, a base ofoperations to attract students andresearchers.• Working towards international coopera-tion involving everyone.

To sum it up, conservation and educationwill have to be the priority of the humanrace if we want any future with the amazinganimals of this great planet. Captive breed-ing of all species needs to stay in the fore-front of FCF efforts. It will take all of usworking together. We can make a differ-ence. •

Cat Conservation in Chile

Fernando Vidal describes the activities at Fauna Andina.


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We were excited to have the opportunityto attend the convention for the first timethis year. We enjoyed taking the husbandryclass—which was packed with great infor-mation—and meeting all the other catlovers over the four day event. The tradeshow was great for ideas and contacts. Inaddition, seeing the visiting babies was areal treat and a great reminder of how pre-cious our now 3-year old puma, Zinnia, isand how rewarding the human-cat relation-ship is with such a bond. We were amazedat the diversity of the speaker list on Satur-day and enjoyed hearing cat news from allover the world. What was impressed on usthe most as an overall theme was howmuch the indigenous cats all over the worldare in trouble and how much FCF as agroup and as individuals want to help withconservation, research, and education. Theauction items were a fun and drawn outway to raise money and we know FCF willuse this money in the best interests of thecats. Our favorite tour was Tiger Creek.

The cats wanted to interact with people andtalked to the groups and seemed to appreci-ate that we appreciated their beauty. Thesanctuary had great examples of practicalhandling, training, and feeding. We likedthe hands-on approach, positive presenta-tion, and personal tour. Many kudos to theFCF for an excellent convention and welook forward to the next one in South Car-olina.—Leah and Bobby Aufill

• • •This was my first FCF convention and,

man, was I sorry. Sorry I didn’t drag mylazy butt to last year’s convention. What’sthe expression? I’ve never had so much funwith my pants on? That convention was ablast!

There’s always energy when animalpeople get together, but I found this onereally special. The networking was incredi-ble; I met some of the best, purest individu-als I’ve ever known, next to my tiger, ofcourse.

I particularly loved Brian’s suggestionthat we all think of ourselves (meaning ourvarious organizations) as “sister” facilities,and am keen to speak to others in thoseterms. Strength in numbers, yes?

There’s no way am I missing next year’sconvention. Kudos to the FCF board mem-bers, officers, convention volunteers for allthe unselfish work!— Dave Sol

• • •Yee-haa! Git along there you little kit-

ties! This here’s cat wrangler Kathy. I had arip-roarin’ good time at the FCF conventionnear Dallas, Texas! I’m plumb tickled that Iwas able to volunteer and help Betsy andStan with registration and buses. It was agreat way to get involved and meet someneat folks.

If ya’all didn’t go, ya missed a good ’un!The Dallas Zoo folks were mighty cordial –even takin’ us behind the scenes. We fedrhinos, had an elephant training demo, andgot a close look at some mighty purtytigers. Of course a big thank you to ya’allwho were there, fer keepin’ such good trackon yer time pieces. We were all back onboard the buses within five minutes of ourexpected departure time!

Then we high-tailed it out to SouthforkRanch. We went through the museum, andgot the low-down about how all the DallasTV show was made and even saw where

The Convention: Six Impressions

David Sol performs his brandof tiger-themed standup.

Southfork employee and Leah Aufill check out baby serval.

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they filmed part of it! Then we put on thefeed-bag and had a deeeee-licious barbe-cue! The ranch even provided a coupletroubadours, complete with cowboy hatsand boots. They were a-singing cowboyand western songs, of course. One littlekitty almost strayed, but we rounded her upand headed home.

The speakers were top-notch. Learnin’’bout ocelots, guiñas, trainin’ and cagerocks really rocked! Discussin’ worldwideissues gave everyone ideas to chew on. Thelive kittens were a sight for trail-wearyeyes. Pettin ’em, seein ’em play—evenwatchin ’em snooze was pure pleasure!Their little feet were a-twitchin’ as theycaught prey in their sleep!

The convention wound up with a ban-quet, silent auction, live auction, and beau-tiful art show. I went home some poorer inmy pocketbook (memberships, silent auc-tion, art pieces, etc.), but so much richerwith new friends, useful information, andwonderful memories. See ya’all next yearat Myrtle Beach! Yeeee ha!—Kathy Thomas

• • •Lions, Tigers and Cowboys!

This past convention was amazing! Thiswas my first FCF convention. I met a lot ofnice people and make some new friends. Iwas so excited when my parents told me Icould go with Sara. I was very impressedon how friendly the FCF members were;they made me feel welcomed. I got to seenew places, do new things and even went

to Tiger Creek. Tiger Creek is an outstand-ing place; the big cats were awesome! Oneof the handlers fed one of the tigers, and Igot to see how big they really are whenthey stand up on their hind legs. I have vis-ited several zoos and not one of them teachyou about the big cats like Tiger Creekdoes. I learned alot! If you are ever inTexas, you should go there, no doubt it. Weall went to the Dallas Zoo and I finally wasable to see a live ocelot! We all got to gobehind the scenes and learned about cagingand safety. I learned so much and there isso much to tell. This convention has givenme the education I need to help teach mypeers this coming school year. Anothergreat thing was the auction. It was fun anda great way to help the FCF. Brian Wernerdressed up in a big tiger costume! Thank

you Brian for making my first FCF conven-tion a fun one. Hope you like your bigrock! Thank you Sara for taking me. Thankyou Carol and Evelyn for being friends.And thank you to all the FCF memberswho attended. See you all next year!—Danielle Finley

• • •My family and I are fairly new to the

world of exotic feline husbandry. We’rejust becoming involved in private conser-vationist efforts. I have spent the last fiveyears fighting a statewide ban on exoticcats so that we could bring an African ser-val into our lives. At the time we began thisfight, it was with the sole intent of satisfy-ing an inner need to have this beautifulcreature. Over the course of the last fiveyears however, our purpose has changed insuch a drastic manner. We are no longer inthis fight for what we want, but have cometo realize how critical the role of privateconservationists in the world are whenmore and more exotic feline populationsbecome threatened with each passing day.This has become our goal, our purpose inthis world.

When I first heard mention of FCF, itwas just a fleeting comment to someonethat was considering getting an exotic catbut had not done any research on properhusbandry practice. This intrigued me so Istarted doing my own research and foundthe next convention was just a few shortweeks away. I joined The FCF just daysbefore attending the Dallas convention,with the intent of taking the husbandrycourse so our local government would bemore inclined to allow us to realize ourdream of having a serval.

I will readily admit that I had this pre-conceived notion of the types of people Iexpected to meet while I was there. I fullyexpected to encounter wealthy people whowere bored with their lives that had found a“hobby” with which they could spendmoney in ways to make themselves feelthey had made their “contribution” to theworld. I could not have been further offbase! Instead what I found was that those inattendance were just ordinary people, muchlike myself, doing their very best to accom-plish extraordinary things with very fewresources besides each other. By the timethe convention came to its end, I truly feltthat I had taken part in the most motivating,awe-inspiring event in my entire life. Itgave me a sense of fulfillment that I justcannot express in words.

The guest speakers were incredible, thestories they shared of their trials and tribu-lations were so inspiring. The passion withwhich each speaker gave their accounts

Kathy Thomas with J.R.

Danielle in her award-winningcostume.

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(Left to right, top to bottom) Fernando Vidal demonstrates how mommacats carry their young • Betsy Whitlock gets a laugh presenting King ofthe Jungle award to Brian Werner in full tiger costume • FCF membersgo behind-the-scenes at the Dallas tiger exhibit • Friendly rhino letsJeannie Baker handle his horn • Cute stuffed tiger goes cowboy forconvention • JB Anderson in Elvis-gone-country wins Cat Roper andReva Anderson the Miss Kitty award • J.R. says “excuse me” • Banquetnight at the Southfork Hotel • Teresa Shaffer does the “mommy thing” •Kelli Navarro waves snake toy for Miss Meerah bobcat • Jim Sander-son gets “wigged out” at banquet. Photographers: Mike Friese, PhilParker, Kelli Perras, Teresa Shaffer.

Cover your mouth when you yawn!


30

made me feel like I was looking into thevery depth of their being. This exquisitepassion was so clear even with those inattendance. When members of the audiencewanted to be heard, everyone gave thoseindividuals their undivided attention.

I was able to tour the grounds of In-SyncExotics after the husbandry course and waswitness to a breathtaking display of lovebetween the owner and her cats. Most ofthose in residence there were to somedegree abused, whether intentional or not,often the abuse was manifest simply byignorance of proper care and feeding. Everysingle animal there, regardless of their per-sonal history, was so at ease with their care-taker that she could go in each enclosureand share very affectionate displays and thecats were completely at ease with every-thing she did. The bond she has with thesecats was apparent in every movement,every gesture.

I left the convention with the heartfeltknowledge that I had formed connectionswith people, with animals, and with anunbelievable sense of fulfillment and pur-pose like none I have ever felt. Several ofthose in attendance were able to bring theirexotic feline kittens with them so thateveryone would have an opportunity to getthat “hands on” experience. I have to admitthat part was my favorite... I am pretty sureI took well over 200 photos just of the babycougar cub, J.R. For future conventions, Iknow I will be planning far in advance sothat I don’t miss a thing!—Kelli Perras“Future Private Feline Conservationist”

• • •

I drove with Laura Walker allthe way to Texas from Massachu-setts to help her move, transporther paintings for the art show, andenjoy something that promised tobe interesting. I had met Sampson,the Canada lynx, that Laura lovesand has worked with, that lives inBolton, Massachusetts at AnimalAdventures. I have a love for ani-mals myself and I have enjoyednature and Audubon from myyouth. I wanted to see the country-side, see the wild cats up close,and see what this convention wasreally all about. I wanted to meetpeople who worked with thesewild cats—and to find out if theywere as “crazy” as Laura!

I took the husbandry course outof an interest and at Laura’s urg-ing. I found the Carol Bohning tobe very professional and she didan excellent job presenting theinformation. It was a lot for anewbie to absorb. I enjoyedsocializing with all the people andgetting to know what they do, thecats they own, and what theythink about their animals, conser-vation, and other things.

It is obvious the people whobelong to FCF love animals, knowhow to take care of their animals,and prove that they are responsible owners.I do believe in responsible private owner-ship. I feel, though, because the group is sosmall, that much has to be done to haveresponsible private owners be heard. Thereneeds to be more positive PR to combat thenews. A scientific approach needs to betaken, a reason and a purpose for the publicto embrace private ownership. Responsibleprivate ownership is a keystone to the pre-vention of extinction. It seems similar to thestem cell research issue: people are going tohave to get off their high horse somedayand find morally what is better and moreimportant. I believe in private ownershipmore so now that I have attended this con-vention.

It was fun to be the auctioneer. I was ner-vous and scared. I couldn’t believe I gotrecruited to do something like that so soon!I know, however, that that is how smallorganizations work and everyone needs to

shoulder a certain amount of responsibility.I guess I got something on my shoulderspretty quick, but I enjoyed it!

Tiger Creek was excellent. I could seethat there was a serious investment thereand a lot of thought has gone into creatingthis sanctuary. Lynn Culver’s place was fas-cinating. A lot has been invested in thisplace also. I could see all the work she andher husband have to do to take care of theiranimals plus all the time, energy, and loveinvested.

Going to the Dallas Zoo was also veryinteresting. Getting in on the inside ofthings was a privilege. And it was a greatprivilege to be able to touch the rhinoceros.I loved meeting the people and meetingtheir animals: Romeo the lynx, Lynn’scougar and Geoffroy’s cat, and the bobcatsand servals that were there too. It was just awonderful experience for me, and one that Iwill not forget in my lifetime.—Abraham Vasken Basmajian

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Kelli Perras goes nose to nosewith a miniature serval.

Abraham Vasken Basmajian adjusts TheresaShaffer’s serval’s walking jacket.


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When U.A.P.P.E.A.L. representativeNancy Nighswander asked me aboutreserving booth space at the FCF conven-tion in Dallas for U.A.P.P.E.A.L. fund-rais-ing/membership drive/legislative awarenesspurposes, I had an idea on how we couldincrease interest.

I planned to bring several kittens withme to convention. Keeping the Dallas TVseries theme, the amusing trio was a smallSouth American Geoffroy’s kitten namedLucy, Sue Ellen bobcat, and what I knewwould be the star of the show, J.R. puma.

During the Thursday registration check-in and icebreaker reception, it is customaryfor FCF members to share their kittens withthe convention attendees. These three wereparked in front of the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. boothand helped attract plenty of attention.Nancy and I enlightened visitors on thenegative effects of the Haley’s Act (HR1947) bill before Congress. Contact withJ.R. puma, a species restricted by Haley’sAct, was limited to paid U.A.P.P.E.A.L.members or persons who made a minimum$10.00 donation to the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. lob-byist fund. A sign on the booth tableexplained why.

Help U.A.P.P.E.A.L fight the Haley’sAct!FONDLE THIS FURBABY FORFREEDOM!Hold this baby cougar now while youstill can because if Congress passes Haley’s Act, you won’t get anotherchance! U.A.P.P.E.A.L members getunlimited furbaby petting privilegesduring this convention! For a $10donation to the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. HaleyAct opposition fund, you too may enjoythis potentially “once in a lifetime expe-rience.”The U.A.P.P.E.A.L. lobbyist team isworking hard to make sure that doesn’tcome true.Help keep our country free. Join U.A.P.P.E.A.L today for $25 sin-gle/$35 family. Members may hold, hug,kiss, pet, touch, and maybe even bottle-feed this baby cougar today.Fill out an application and join NOW!U.A.P.P.E.A.L is a 501(c)(4) non-profittax-deductible organization, so givegenerously. All donations and member-

ship fees go into ourlobbyist fund.There is no doubt that

FCF members disagreewith this federal bill andwant to protect their free-dom to pet and fondlebaby big cats and werewilling to put their moneywhere their hearts were.Nancy had a stack ofU.A.P.P.E.A.L. member-ship application forms atthe ready and for thosewho signed up, she gavethem a special sticker towear that proudlyannounced, “I fondled for freedom.” Wesigned up 19 new members and generated$475 towards the lobbyist fund for fightingHaley’s Act. J.R. soaked up all the admira-tion and quite a few bottles of milk formulatoo. He was a “purrfect” example of whyHaley’s Act is a bad bill and that Congressneeds to stop passing animal rights bills.

Presently the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. board isconferring with Bill Hanka and his team toprepare for meetings with the agriculturecommittee during the August recess inanticipation of increased action on this billin September. ASPCA, Humane Society ofthe United States (HSUS), and AnimalRights (AR) activist Big Cat Rescue (BCR)have organized a public relations campaignto write Congress in support of Haley’s Act.Carol Baskin of BCR has been very active.She has installed Capwiz XC on her web-site. This is a $12,000 yearly rental data-base program that has state, local, and fed-eral legislator email addresses accessible toweb visitors by zip code, as well as mediacontacts, and can generate emails in supportof AR legislation, track them, and sendcopies to the web site owner. Big Cat Res-cue has purchased additional grass rootsinternet technology that alerts an emaildatabase of any pending town hall meetingsand urges the recipient being emailed toattend, meet their representative, and voicesupport of Haley’s Act. An FCF member(not a Big Cat Rescue supporter) recentlyforwarded me their email invitation fromCarol to attend a town hall meeting. If youget one of these notices, it’s a good idea to

attend and let your representative knowabout these high-cost tools of the AR indus-try, and express your opposition to any ARbills that step on the USDA’s ability to reg-ulate commercial activity and protect ani-mal welfare and, in the case of Haley’s Act,prohibit all contact with all cats of any age.

Everyone needs to write the house agri-culture committee members to express theiropposition to this overreaching and unnec-essary bill. Not only does Haley’s Act for-bid all contact with the big cat species nomatter what their age, but also, should itpass, it prohibits USDA from issuing anynew permits to any holder of big catspecies, or any applicant that might obtainbig cats until USDA writes and approvesregulations to enforce Haley’s Act. Since ittakes USDA an average of three years to gothrough the process of drafting, publishingfor public comment, and then approvingnew regulations, this means no new zoos orsanctuaries holding big cats will be licensedfor possibly the next three years. This is justone of many unintended consequences ofHaley’s Act, a bad bill that will harm bigcat conservation, facilities that use youngcats as ambassadors for their educationalprograms, and fund-raising efforts to housecats in sanctuaries, zoos, and conservationcenters.

To help U.A.P.P.E.A.L. fight this bill,please join and make a donation to the lob-byist fund. Contact information can befound in the U.A.P.P.E.A.L. advertisementin this journal issue. •

Petting Puma Prove Profitable for U.A.P.P.E.A.L.

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32

By Rebecca MorganIt sure was fun to attend a con-

vention again after so many years.I really enjoyed meeting everyoneand playing with the babies. Forthose of you who do not know meor who did not meet me at theDallas convention, I am a longtime member; I joined L.I.O.C. inthe early 1970s. I am also a past“Lottie” recipient (1983) and theauthor of “Crazy Caracal,” acomic strip that ran in the thisnewsletter from 1981 through1984.

Lynn asked me to write a com-parison of the last convention Iattended in the early 1980s to thislatest convention, both of whichwere held in the Dallas, Texasarea.

Back in the early 1980s,L.I.O.C. was composed of a lot ofbranch groups that each met sev-eral times a year, usually at one ofthe member’s homes. Manymembers brought their cats and itwas mostly a social club with ashort business meeting and plentyto eat. Then once a year we wouldget together for a national conven-tion.

The 1982 Dallas conventionwas hosted by the Southwest

Then and Now:A Comparison of Two Dallas Conventions 25 Years Apart

Branch and held at a hotel inFarmers Branch, Texas. We had alot more cats (especially the largerbreeds) in attendance since thelaws were not as tight as they aretoday. If memory serves me cor-rectly, there were several cloudedleopard cubs, a serval, two mar-gays, and a cougar cub along withsome jaguar and tiger babies.

Our hospitality suite was muchsmaller and we had no commer-cial vendors.

Friday we had our speakers.They included Tom Mantzell, theowner and operator of a Texas-style Africa, a 1500-acre ranchwest of Dallas that hosted endan-gered and threatened hoofed stockfrom antelope to zebras, NancyCarter, a very nice lady who ranthe nursery at the Dallas Zoo, andJohn Stokes a professional animalphotographer. Our speakers weregood, but I must say that thisyear’s speakers were excellent. Ireally enjoyed the magnificentpeople you brought in to speak ofall the things being done to helpour exotic friends in their naturalhabitats.

Friday evening was the generalmeeting where Ken Hatfield, ourpresident, outlined the items that

This CC cartoon from 1981 depicts a real disaster caused by Fred Boyajian’s margay. Fred attended the 2007 convention too.


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34

would be discussed the next morning at theexecutive meeting.

We only had one field trip which tookplace Saturday morning at the same time asthe executive meeting. The trip was toNeiman Marcus and to the Ola PodridaShopping Center, a unique shopping centermade up of small shops selling hand madeitems. It was nothing in comparison to thebehind-the-scenes tour of the zoo but someof our older members wanted to go shop-ping as most came from small towns.Everything else took place at the conven-tion hotel.

Saturday night was the banquet wherewe recognized members for their contribu-tions, presented the “Lottie,” had an auc-tion, and everyone voted on their favoritephoto from the previous year. At the end,everyone in attendance received a smallgift to remember the convention. In 1982 itwas a square candle with the national logoon one side and a different exotic cat oneach of the other three sides.

Sunday morning Ken Hatfield reportedback to the membership on the meeting ofthe executive committee and the proceedsfrom the auction were presented to Ken.

As you can see, the typical conventionback then was shorter, we had fewer speak-ers (all of which were local), and the only“field trip” was a social event. This wasalso before the Wild Feline HusbandryCourse was developed.

In my opinion, the organization hastaken many strides forward. It has becomean organization with a lot of credibilitywhile at the same time, keeping a veryfriendly atmosphere.

If we had been where you are today,maybe there would not be so many laws.We just were not prepared to fight all thenew laws that were coming at us fromevery direction and we had so many dis-agreements on which way to proceed. Wealso, I’m sad to say, allowed personalitiesto get in the way.

Keep up the good work and help eachother with problems as they surface in allareas of the country. But most of all, whenyou have small disagreements among your-selves, listen to everyone’s point of viewand work them out without fighting.

Always keep in mind that with any dis-agreement between your board and yourmembers, it’s the cats that always lose. •

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Latest Exotic Feline HandlersThe members of the FCF Board of Directors are proud to announce that during the months of July and

August the following individuals have applied for and been accepted into the Registered Exotic Feline HandlerProgram. The Board cannot stress enough the importance of participating in this program. It is proof positiveto the legislators that make decisions which directly effect our ability to continue to own, breed, or exhibit ourcats, that we as an organization are committed to responsible ownership and excellence in the care of ourcharges. We hope more of our membership will take advantage of this program to show their commitmentpersonally.

Dr. Ron LaTorre Basic Level 3 years experienceBrenda LaTorre Basic Level 3 years experienceJ. B Anderson Advanced Level 29 years experienceReva Anderson Advanced Level 29 years experienceJudy Berens Advanced Level 14 years experienceKathy Thomas Basic Level 10 years experienceFred Boyajian Advanced Level 40 years experienceJason McLeod Basic Level 8 years experienceRajani Ferrante Advanced Level 10 years experiencePhillis Parks Basic Level 9 years experienceKheira Knoop Advanced 16 years experienceMokshu Bybee Basic 6 years experienceJulia Mckenzie Basic 5 years experience

Applications for this program can be found on the FCF website at the following hyperlink:http://www.thefcf.com/husbandry/reghandlerapp.asp?key+486

The board further hopes that in addition to the this program that members will take the next step and furthershow their support for excellence in the care of their cats by applying the FCF Facility Accreditation Program.The overview, basic standards, and application can also be found on the FCF website.

Congratulations to all of these members for their dedication to their cats.

—Betsy WhitlockFCF Secretary

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CallFred Boyajian,800-251-5800

GA


35

By Deborah RabinskiAs a curator I want everyone to know

what a wonderful experience it has been towork for FCF and the artists that made thisart show. I feel that people I met canchange the world. Just to know the kind oflove and caring that each and everyone ofyou give to the animals and the love thatyou get back from them is what art isabout. It’s why artists paint, write poems,dance, or play music. You are the verymuse.

The start of setting up the art showbegins when the artists bring in their art-work, which started late about 9:00pm Fri-day. First I went through all the art, just tohang on the walls. Once hung, I labeledeach work. Thanks to Deborah St. John, wehad temporary walls down the center of theroom. Deb was the best—not only did shebring the walls, she stayed in the gallery asI was at the gate, and sometimes lookedover the kittens. Deb also cast footprints ofboth the cougar and serval kittens. What agreat person—with great art to match.

Yes, we had kittens in the art show.Thanks to Lynn Culver we had cougar,bobcat, and Geoffroy’s kittens as well assome visiting serval kittens.

This show was the debut of the travel-ling exhibit, “Wildcats of the World” byRochelle Mason and Linda DuPuis-Rosen.These were the “facts” of the show. Ourwalls were adorned with 36 wildcats. Alloutstanding and both artists were very pro-fessional.

Laura Walker gave us “myth” and shewas the first artist I talked with about beingin this show. Her artwork started my begin-ning thoughts and in person she is justbeautiful. If you did not get to meet Laura,please look for her next year.

Sara Comstock gave us both David andSara Stribbling artwork (UK) as she isworking as an agent for them. What greatartwork. Thanks Sara.

Rick Hildenbrandt was the “legend” partof the show. He had the big watercolor ofthe French cave painting. He helped set upthe show and keep me together.

The art show came together with all art-work playing off one another, transformingthe room with great art. It was a delight to

see and the kittens had many people askingabout FCF. The hotel had a wedding andthe people would come in look at the art-work and see the kittens. We talked to a lotof people throughout the day. Everyone saidit was the people that made this conventionso special.

I must thank many people for their help:Brian Werner for his help with the SafariClub newsletter, Mike Friese and Lynn Cul-ver for the postcard, and Lynn for help allthe way through to the very end, and myhusband, Rick Hildenbrandt. Without him Icould not have done my best. I saved theperson I most wanted to thank for last—Kevin Chambers who worked right onthrough a heart attack and put together agreat convention through all kinds of trou-ble. You’re the best.

I want everyone to know that this wasmy first convention and everyone made mefeel like I was family. Thank you all.

We sold 28 works of art and 50% of thesales went to FCF for an emergency fund. Ifyou saw any artwork that you wanted for agift or yourself please email me ([email protected]) and I will get you togetherwith the artist.

I want people that could not be with usthis year and those of you who could, toknow more about the artists:

Linda DuPuis–Rosen has been creatingart for over 20 years. She has focused hercreative efforts in the area of wildlife artusing watercolor. Over the last seven yearsshe has donated her time and artwork to anumber of wildlife conservation effortsaround the world. Her most recent project isin collaboration with artist Rochelle Masonto create the “Wildcats of the World” edu-cational exhibit. The feeling and emotionthat are evoked from her paintings comefrom her experiencing the sights, sounds,and smells of the local terrain. Linda allowsthose who have not had the opportunity toencounter these animals first hand, theopportunity to see their true beauty and tohelp awaken their connection to nature.

Rochelle Mason has been paintingwildlife since 1980. In 1990 she decided tobuild her reputation as an endangeredspecies artist. Her passion is to represent theless charismatic animals that get little pub-lic attention. Rochelle’s paintings, collectedinternationally, are oftentimes shared withthe public as educational art exhibits, fea-tured mainly in natural history museums.Rochelle’s most recent traveling exhibit,entitled “Wildcats of the World,” representsall 36 species of wildcats from around theworld and debuted at this art show.

Rick Hildenbrandt is known for working

Art ShowCats: Facts, Legends, and Myths

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with the grid and finding icons in everydaylife. Mr. Hildenbrandt had his first museumshow while still in high school. He has beenan artist apprentice with Michael Kesslerand graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1987from Kutztown University. Rick is a hard-working artist and master of control, push-ing materials to see where they will takehim. Hildenbrandt shows us how icons aremade and how we relate to situations inlife, asking “is this a universal metaphor forall?”

Deborah St. John is a self-taught Kansas

36

Another View of the Art ShowDid everyone get a chance to visit the art

show in Dallas? I sure hope you didbecause it was fantastic. This was my firstart show ever, of any sort. I’m glad my firstwas an art show themed on felines andother wildlife.

My husband and I visited several times.One of his favorites was the two cat eyeslooking through green leaves with reflec-tion on the dew. My husband finallybrought one home, themed ‘Dinner to Go,’a bobcat chasing a mouse. My favorite wasthe baby Canada lynx looking at his reflec-tion in a pond while rain drops are falling. Iloved it so much, I brought it home.

The three artists who were at the show,Rochelle Mason, Laura Walker, and LindaDupuis-Rosen did such an amazing job andI am so glad that I got to meet these three

talented women. They have now changedmy perspective on art forever.

I hope we have more art shows at futureconventions because if you haven’t heardthe buzz yet, I won a St. Jude Dream Homewhile I was going wild and cat crazy at theDallas convention. A while before, I hadbought a single $100 ticket to benefit thechildren at St. Jude Hospital. The winningprize house was 2,600 sq. feet and valued at$275,000.

We had just pulled up to the gate at TigerCreek Wildlife Refuge in Tyler, Texas onSunday morning when I got the phone calltelling me I had won. The first thing I didwas thank the Lord for the blessing. Thesecond thing I did was, I think, give BrianWerner a hug as I told him what I had justwon. Now that I have this bigger house, Inow have more wall space to decorate. I

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born artist. She unitizes color pencil andgraphite pencil to photo-realistically depictwildlife. Deborah also uses scratchboardand scrimshaw techniques. She has givennumerous drawing and color pencil work-shops, been a participant in internationalgalleries and has clients in numerous coun-tries.

David Stribbling is one of the UK’s lead-ing wildlife artists; his work has sold atChristies and Phillips Chester, and throughmany galleries. It is a great honor to have amaster artist of this level in this show.

David handles paint like a surgeon: eachand every placement of color gives us theknowledge of a master’s hand at work.Never does he let your eye stop, you walkaway with the feeling you just met that ani-mal yourself for the first time. He not onlygives us the exact likeness, but truth. It’sour soul meets his soul and the animal’s.

Sarah Stribbling has been fascinated bywildlife and the natural world from an earlyage. Inspired and encouraged by her father,she started drawing professionally in 2003.She graduated from Newcastle Universitywith a zoology degree in 2004 and current-ly is undertaking a master’s degree in biodi-versity and conservation at Leeds. Lookingat Sarah’s work, you can feel her energyand the excitement in her discovery. Herbrush stroke is open, her color clear. Theviewer is lead to wonder how pure the envi-ronment could be.

Laura Walker’s ideas usually come fromdreams or visions during the night—like acolored slide. Many times ideas grow fromthe original “slide” to form continuity with-in her imagination. These ideas get trans-ferred to watercolor paper, board, or can-vas. Laura’s work brings about innocencein us, a place where fun begins. Shereminds us that there is a child within all ofus. Is Laura being a storyteller or shamanforetelling dreams in her paintings? •

just happen to know three good artists thatcould help me out.

That is, of course, if I really end up get-ting to move into my new home. Most ofyou know that I am smack dab in the mid-dle of a conflict with the county and theirrestrictions over my cats, Diesel andRomeo. The dream house is located onecounty north of the county I live in now,and it has restrictions on cats.

In my wildest dreams, I had no idea mylife was about to change so dramaticallyand I was about to be in a fight for my catsto have the right to live with me and to real-ly live in the ultimate dream home. You see,if Diesel, my bobcat, and Romeo, mySiberian lynx, can’t go, I can’t go. I don’tcare if it was a million dollar dream home;no one will separate me from my kids, till Idraw my last breath.—Regina Hardison •

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By Anne-Sophie BertrandAfter a long three-day journey from

Brazil, I finally arrived in Plano, Texas andgot the time to relax a bit before meetingeveryone. I confess I was pretty impressedas FCF appeared to me as a bunch of peoplethat had known one another for decades. Ifelt like a new student in college with theonly difference that I was the only one whoknew no one. After a few hours, I got KevinChambers and Lynn Culver on the phone toinvite me to see little puma, bobcat, andGeoffroy’s kittens.

This is where it all started. I enteredLynn’s room and noticed the musky smellof wild felids. Now this was really weird tome, as the only place I could smell this odorso far was in the forest! For the very firsttime and in a very different context (hotelroom!), I got to see those gorgeous crea-tures from near. I even had the honor togive a baby puma the milk bottle! Geez! Iwish everybody could do that once, it is soheart-touching! I sincerely believe this canchange someone’s mind regarding “wildcats.” I had personally never thought aboutthem this way before.

I met so many nice fellows. I heard somany wild cat/pet stories, some stuff I couldhave never imagined. I found every bit of itso information-rich. Sure, I have a lot tolearn from FCF people. You guys have atremendous amount of behavioral informa-tion on the cats I am working with. Forthree days, I could talk to people and heartheir stories. The funniest part is that eventhough I dedicated my time and life to theseanimals, I had much less contact with thecats than the FCF people. It is a paradoxicalfeeling! For two days, we had different vis-its and shows which allowed me meetingnew faces giving me another perspective ofthings.

Saturday morning came and after JimSanderson’s report on Asian cats’ situation,I presented the research we are doing insouthwestern Brazil. I was quite stressedbut I guess it is like this the first time. But itwent OK and people came to ask me ques-tions and talk to me afterwards, whichdemonstrated their interest. I felt so happy.And the Margay Man aka Fred Boyajian,came to me. Fred told me he had owned 40

margays. Lucky devil! For our researchproject, we humbly aim at capturing eightindividuals and much remains to be under-stood as for their behavior and response tohuman development. But, when you hand-raise an animal, you become very well-aware of its behavioral patterns. Eventhough they are not “wild” the innate partis there. While I was commenting on myrare encounters with our monitored mar-gays to Fred, he could compare it with hismargays and he could tell me he’d seenthat thousands of times. I had neverthought I could find such a well of infor-mation there in Texas!

And if the margay project is doing well,I am surely very, very grateful to Fred formaking things possible down here. And soam I for Joel, Kevin, Brian, Lynn, and oth-ers. If FCF as a whole makes a difference, Ithink it is worth mentioning individualefforts.

Furthermore, I understood FCF hasevolved a lot and is now more involved

into wild cats’ conservation issues. That isgreat news for the cats. Working in SouthAmerica, I came to understand that whatseems ‘little’ or ‘small’ in the states canmake a pretty big difference in what weknow as the third world. So I guess themessage is: “Do small, we will do big withit in the South.”

In brief, this trip to the FCF conventionwas a great experience for me. I believeFCF has now matured regarding itsapproach towards its beloved animals’ con-servation. Congratulations! May you besuccessful in preserving wild cats in theirnatural habitats.

With the FCF conservation grant, wewill be able to buy four GPS radio-collarsfor margays from Televilt (Sweden).Besides the fact that we will be the firstones to monitor small cats with such equip-ment, those collars will allow collectingmuch needed information on the margays`response to human-caused habitat changes.Thanks for your trust and your help! •

Field Conservationist Meets Felids Ex Situ

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Savannah, a 15 pound serval/Siamese Flhybrid owned by Suzi Mutascio, success-fully paired-bonded with a 13 pound cham-pion male Turkish angora, Albert II, ownedby Lori Buchko of Hightstown, NJ. Thematch resulted in the birth of two largehealthy, bouncing kittens on April 5, 1989.While this unlikely combination of parentsmay conjure up thoughts of the odd couple,in actuality long sessions of genetic discus-sions led to Albert as an ideal stud candi-date.

Prior to her second birthday, Savannahhad rebuffed three different potential matesfor reasons known only to her. She wascycling regularly throughout, so hoperemained for her fertility. Albert’s whitecoat and long hair were not cause for con-cern, for as a proven stud he clearly did notthrow white dominant genes, but did carryand produce red which is highly desirablein a hybrid breeding program. Further, along coat requires a double recessive genet-ic influence in order to manifest itself inoffspring. As Savannah was geneticallyclear from long hair, short coated babieswere expected. A well-bred Turkish Angoradisplays a refined, boxed head, narrowmuzzle, copper eyes, and outsized ears atopa large, rangy, leggy body—this is an excel-lent body type compliment to a serval.Equally, if not more important, Albert is a

calm, loving, laid-back cat—a real gentle-man, yet an avid breeder. Equally comfort-able at home or away, it was decided thatAlbert would assume residence at our home

as Savannah is tenacious to her own territo-ry. Within two days, the pair was literallyinseparable: best friends, playmates, andsleeping/grooming companions.

Six months later, ironically on her thirdbirthday, April 5, 1989, Savannah gavebirth to two babies at between three and fivein the morning. Three hours later she gavebirth to another kitten, sadly DOA, and pre-sumably a victim of placenta abruptionfrom my observation of the birth. Savannahhas proven to be an excellent mother, per-mitting me to interact with the two kittensand observe her maternal routine. At tendays of age, both kittens are large, robust,and thriving. The first-born was a solidwhite male, the second a spotted femalewith mottled areas of red, the third stillbornkitten was a male with perfect spotting on abeige background color. (The DOA kitten

Blast from the Past. . . .The Very First F2 SavannahsLIOC-ESCFJuly/August 1989—Volume 33, Issue 4

F2 kittens at four days old

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39

When the kittens were nine days old,Savannah elected to move them from thenest box to on top of the bed where they arefully exposed. Accommodating her everywish, we lowered the mattress and arrangedbumpers around the perimeter to preventfalls.

Savannah also seems to have appointedme chief babysitter, as once I am in place,she enjoys going off to play with Albert,play with her toys, or romp in the outside

play area for 2-3 hours at a time. Thisarrangement has provided the perfect bal-ance of mother-raised babies who are fullyimprinted and socialized to humans.

As Savannah is the only documentedserval Fl hybrid to date, each step of thebreeding program ventures further intoexciting new frontiers. Development of thesavannah cat now appears to be a plausibleendeavor.

Congratulations Albert and Savannah! •

has been preserved and is available for sci-entific study to any qualified individual orinstitution.)

All three kittens were sizable at birth,weighing in excess of six ounces. I estimatethe white kitten to be large, refined in boneand elegant at maturity, clearly exhibiting aserval-type body and the spotted female toclosely resemble her mother’s beauty. Thefemale, at ten days, weighs 11 ounces andthe male 11.5 ounces.

Savannah, the first F1 and the proud mother of the first F2 Savannahs.

Albert, the father of those first F2s.Savannah, pregnant


40

When FCF president Lynn Culver decid-ed to apply for FCF Facility Accreditation,she knew it was going to take awhile toassemble the pieces required by the accredi-tation committee. N.O.A.H. Feline Conser-vation Center houses nearly four-dozen catsof six species and utilizes a variety of cagedesigns for the inhabitants.

The N.O.A.H. facility sits in the center ofthe Culver’s 30-acre Arkansas property.Over ten acres is under perimeter fence;some of the fencing is eight feet high andmuch of it is ten feet high.

The Culvers acquired their first cougarsover 22 years ago, and their first cages stillstand, now housing different cougars. In thepast two decades construction has convert-ed the Culver’s entire yard into prime felinehabitat.

The six resident cougars are either rem-nants of a former breeding program orhomeless pumas taken in by the Culvers.Today the Culver’s emphasis is on breedingthe smaller feline species. Over two-dozencages and exercise habitats provide for ser-val, caracal, bobcat, Canada lynx, andGeoffroy’s cat.

Bart Culver designed and installed con-necting squeeze cages to facilitate medicat-ing, examining, trapping and transportingtheir felines. Either double-door entrywaysor shift cages attach to every compound.

Several of the small cat species have

access to fenced-in habitats. The servals andcaracals are rotated so they can enjoy a5,000 square foot area landscaped withbamboo, native grasses and bushes. The 12-foot tall fences have a 30-inch recurve and ahot wire at the eight-foot height.

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Based on whole prey composition, this supplement balances the nutrients lacking inskeletal muscle meat-based diets for carnivores: vitamins A & D (normally suppliedby the liver), B vitamins (from gut contents of whole prey), and of course calcium(found in bones). This supplement also contains added taurine – an essential aminoacid for felids – and the antioxidant vitamin E.

CENTRAL NEBRASKA PACKING, INC.PO BOX 550 ~ NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA 69103-0550

1-877-900-3003 ~ 1-800-445-2881 ~ FAX:1-308-532-2744EMAIL: [email protected] WEB PAGE: www.nebraskabrand.com

MEAT COMPLETEWITH TAURINE

Another FCF Member Facility is Accredited!


41

Bobcats have hillside habitats situatedunder the native hardwood forest. Thefence height for the bobcats is ten foot witha 24-inch recurve and a hot wire for securi-ty. A couple of the bobcat enclosures areconnected directly to the Culver’s home byway of either overhead tunnels or groundlevel and underground tunnels.

Lynn applied for facility accreditationnot only in hopes of gaining accreditationfor the N.A.O.H. facility, but also she says,“I wanted to give the accreditation commit-tee something complex to consider andlearn from. Our facility is definitely chal-lenging. We have cages that are twentyyears old, and cages that are just one yearold. None of our construction uses chainlink, and most cages are built with treatedpost and beam construction.”

At the Dallas convention general mem-bership meeting, accreditation committeemember Doc Antle encouraged everyone tosubmit facility applications, and encouragedstrong construction and emphasized use ofmetal posts rather then wood.

“After the meeting,” says Lynn, “someof the FCF members told me they builtusing treated wood posts and they were dis-couraged, thinking they would not beapproved. I told these members to go aheadand apply. I believe Doc was referring moreto tigers than small cats, and I pointed outthat even tigers can be safely held bywood—it just needs to be strong enough

and that requires more than a 4 x 4. Thefirst accredited tiger facility was construct-ed using treated 4 x 6 posts.”

This FCF program is still rather new andadjustments to the process will occur overtime. It won’t be long before facilities willbe applying for re-accreditation.

In addition to the detailed descriptionsof each cage and a stack of photos Lynnsupplied two DVD tours of the facility—one taped in the late fall and another in the

early spring.Lynn says, “I borrowed a camcorder in

late November and it ran out of tape beforeI was finished videoing all the cages. It wasanother three months before I could borrowit again and finish up. My annual inspectionby my veterinarian was in April 2007 andonce he visited and signed off my applica-tion I was ready to submit it. I drew a map,included an aerial photo of the property andsurrounding areas as well to help the com-mittee get a feel for the location and facilitylayout.”

The hard work and effort paid off whenthe accreditation committee certified theN.O.A.H. facility ‘FCF Accredited.’

The FCF accreditation committee stated,“The N.O.A.H. Feline Conservation Centermeets the standards of the FCF. The facilityshows great improvement over time inhabitat construction and habitat enrichment,especially for the small cats. The creativityand adaptation of the facility is veryadmirable. While the habitats for the smallcats are excellent, the habitats for some ofthe larger cats appear to need future struc-tural reconstruction. Although I am sure thehabitats can maintain their current occu-pants, I would ask that the habitats be rein-forced for any new occupants. This wouldbe most critical for younger occupants. As awhole, the facility looks to be a great havenfor its residents.” •


42

I am very honored to have received theLotty award at this year’s convention inDallas, Texas and want to thank those pastwinners of the Lotty who felt that I wasworthy. It seems like there are so manygood people out there who try to do theright thing on a daily basis. If only themedia would focus on that aspect, what adifferent world it would be! Although ourlives are packed full with work and family,us animal lovers fill in the small gaps offree time by tending to our animals, ourfamily’s or the neighbor’s animals, or astray. Unfortunately, we are going to haveto push our tired bodies into dealing withanimal rights types and their legislation. Inever thought that I would involve myselfwith politics, but it is so depressing to seestate after state fall and to be here now, withOhio under threat. I can hardly bear to thinkabout the fall legislative season. But wemust get involved if we want to keep ouranimals, to keep our rights as American cit-

izens! I would like tosee FCF take back thecountry, state by state!The fight will not beeasy, but I think that weall need to do more.

Start at home, if youare lucky enough to stilllive in a state that allowsownership. Try to workwith local officials orfirst responders if theyneed help with an exoticanimal and educatethem about our world.So many people do notunderstand their natureand so become afraid ofour animals. Most statelegislative folk that Ihave spoken to also arecompletely ignorant thatwe responsible ownersare out there. Volunteerfor campaigns of those

legislators who will support private owner-ship; I guarantee that you can make a differ-ence. I urge you to get to know other animalpeople and work with less responsible own-ers to improve their facilities or their prac-tices. Help each other build cages or pens,relocate and move animals, etc. Developcontacts with the media who will occasion-ally print a positive animal owner story.Educate and eventually most people comearound to understand our world a lot better.In addition, I think we need to meet the ani-mal rights people head on! Call and com-plain to facilities that host PETA or HSUS(etc.) functions. Let them know what thoseorganizations really stand for and how all oftheir money is spent (not on animals!) Weneed our own animal owners’ grass rootsmovement to stop people who know noth-ing about our animals from dictating howwe will enjoy and keep them (or not!)Okay, so now you know what I’m doingnext year too!

—Carol Bohning

Carol Bohning’s Thoughts on Winning the Lotty

Pho

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August 15, 2007By Wayne Sluder

Arkansas Game and Fish (G&F) wasproposing changes that would have prohib-ited new exhibitors of large felines fromentering the state, or if already in the state,acquiring large felines (specifically lion,tiger, or cougar).

Summary: FCF member Julie Roper alerted Lynn

Culver to proposed G&F regulationchanges. As a concerned citizen, Julie hasrequested to be informed in writing of anyproposed captive wildlife regulationchanges.

A couple of weeks ago, Lynn Culver andJulie Roper, who is an Arkansas permittedpuma holder and a practicing attorney, andmyself, the new field representative ofRegion 4 for the Feline Conservation Fed-eration, met with Doyle Shook, Chief ofWildlife Management with the ArkansasG&F.

Julie had a separate audience with Doyleto discuss specific changes to the new Per-sonal Mountain Lion Permit being pro-posed to replace the Breeder/Dealer Permitfor those holders not involved in eitherbreeding or dealing.

Lynn and I then had an audience withMr. Shook later that afternoon. We met forover two hours with Mr. Shook and wentover in detail his proposed changes and pre-sented compelling conservation concerns tosupport the FCF request to drop the pro-posed changes that would have closedArkansas to any future conservation cen-ters, educational exhibitors, or felinerefuges for large cat species. Because ofthis meeting, the proposed regulationchanges were tabled for a month to giveG&F time to digest the FCF input.

Lynn spoke with Doyle Shook late lastweek and learned that he had decided to goagainst the request of the FCF and continuewith the proposed regulations that wouldhave banned the possession or importationof lion, tiger, or cougar by any futureUSDA licensed facilities

The proposed regulation changes wouldbe presented the following Thursday at the

monthly G&F Commission public meetingand then the 30-day public comment periodwould begin. On Sunday, Lynn Culverwrote Director Henderson and all the G&Fcommissioners with an impassioned plea toquestion Doyle Shook about the proposedchanges and do what they could to stop thischange.

By Monday, Lynn had arranged for her-self and Julie Roper to be present for themonthly director/commissioner planningsession on Wednesday afternoon, which isthe meeting where everyone is briefed inpreparation for the public meeting the nextmorning. While the ladies would not beallowed to speak during the meeting, itwould give them an opportunity to listenand potentially discuss these concerns withthe commissioners before hand.

Lynn had also called Beverly Sutton, thesecretary of the commissioners andplugged me in for a seven-minute presenta-tion at the public commission meeting,complete with local reporters, etc. I am sureit helped with Lynn being able to say, “theFCF Regional Director will be speaking atthe meeting to present our position.” Itgives the FCF key resources to bring intoplay on issues.

On Tuesday, Lynn received a call fromDavid Goad, the deputy director of theArkansas G&F, and also the person thatChief Shook reports to—Doyle Shook’sboss, if you will. Mr. Goad wanted to per-sonally inform Lynn that he had read herletter concerning her opposition to the needfor the proposed regulation change thatwould prohibit any new big cat facilities inArkansas, and he said it is now officiallydropped!

As the field representative for the areathat covers Arkansas, G&F Breeder/Dealer,and USDA licensed resident as well, I senta follow-up letter to Mr. Goad and all theG&F Commissioners thanking them fordropping the proposed ban.

Analysis:• Request written notice of pending regula-tion changes to stay informed.• Meet with official decision makers early,before the public comment period if possi-

ble. By the time a G&F Commission hasvoted, they have pretty much made up theirminds. • Ask for face-to-face meetings where pos-sible. • Write letters to key decision-makers. • Present a combined front with key mem-bers of the FCF taking action. The power ofan organization to bring different playersonto the scene as needed provides leveragefrom both a positional and tactical view. • Be persistent.

Thank you Regional Directors. I amproud to be part of this organization. Pleasecongratulate Lynn Culver on her persis-tence on this issue. And also, we as regionaldirectors should be proud of the efforts wehave started with the Regional Field Repre-sentative program. Our organized effortsare making a difference! •

New Regional Field Representative Works Successfullywith President of FCF to Stop Ban

Regional DirectorsNeed FCF Volunteersfor StateRepresentatives

Help us to formulate the best plansin representing the FCF and you! Vol-unteer for State Representative andhelp FCF keep us all informed of newlegislation and regulation develop-ments at the state, county and local lev-els! All states need representatives,even states presently closed to captiveownership.

The Field Representative Program isa team effort. Be a part of this team!Ownership of exotics is not necessary,however, interest in preservation andconservation for the cats is!

The Regional Directors have begunsoliciting and recommending membersfor state representative. If this is some-thing you wish to get involved with,contact your Field Representative.Check on the inside front cover of thisjournal for your Regional Director’scontact information. •


44

By Lynn CulverThe Captive Wildlife Safety Act pro-

hibits any interstate transport of the sevenlarge cat species and hybrids thereof, exceptby certain exempted entities, i.e., USDAlicensed facilities, vets, rehabbers, andsanctuaries that are non-profit, non-breed-ing, and non-touching.

When the act was first proposed, FCFworked diligently to determine if the word“commerce” was describing the exchangeof money for the cats, a definition we areused to with the Endangered Species Actand its requirements for Captive BredWildlife Permits to sell endangered species.Now we know the answer—transports thatdo not involve sales are also commerce inthis Lacey Act amendment.

The F & W drafted regulations in early2003 and published them in the FederalRegister for comment. As the FCF LegalAffairs Director at that time, I questionedthe prohibiting of private owners wishing tomake interstate household moves to trans-port their large cat to their new property,noting that using an exempted entity tomove cats should satisfy the letter of thelaw, and not violate the congressional intentof the law. FCF comments submitted creat-ed a need for F & W clarification on thismatter.

An excerpt of the official FCF commentssent March 1, 2003 is reprinted below:

...the F & W Service draft regulationsdid not specifically state that utilizing theservices of an exempted transport agent tomake an interstate move of a large carni-vore on behalf of a legal carnivore owner isprohibited. Allowing such transport wouldmeet the goals of the legislation by insuringthat those engaged in the interstate move-ment of large carnivores are qualified andlicensed by the USDA.

Utilizing an exempted entity to transportpersonal property is not any of the prohibit-ed activities—it is not ‘acquiring’, or‘receiving’, or ‘buying’ or ‘selling’, theproperty does not change hands it is merely‘transported’ professionally, safely, and byan exempted party, across the public high-ways, with no resulting change in owner-

ship. This one act is an entirely unique action,

since there is no change of ownership,making it unlike all other listed prohibitedactivities. That is, it is not a two-stepprocess at all—there is not a change inownership followed by an interstate trans-port, there is only an interstate transport.

Therefore the FCF will interpret thisomission of clarification by the F & W Ser-vice in the draft regulations as an admis-sion through omission, that an owner mayutilize the services of an exempted profes-sional and this transporting falls within theCWSA and as such is a legal action and sothe FCF will advise private individualowners desiring to move their residenceand their already possessed personal ani-mals to another state that they must acquirethe services of a professional exemptedentity to transport their large feline carni-vore.

The final rules were published in theAugust 16, 2007 Federal Register. Again F& W didn’t specifically address whether apet owner may use the services of anexempted entity to make their move. F &W only states that a pet large cat ownermay not do the transporting of their petacross state lines as part of a householdmove or for any veterinary needs. I amcurious if F & W will actually try to prose-cute before a federal judge a householdmove of a prohibited large cat when thecongressional intent of this law was clearlyto try to put restrictions on sales for pets.

One approach to an owner’s desire notto abandon their commitment to the life-time care of their large cat when facing aninterstate household move would be for theowner to donate the cat to a trusted USDAfacility in another state. Once the paper-work is official, they may now transport thefeline under exemption D stated in theCWSA amendment to the Lacey Act.

(D) has custody of the animal solely forthe purpose of expeditiously transportingthe animal to a person described in thisparagraph with respect to the species.Translation—everyone in the world isexempted from the prohibitions against

interstate transport when they drive a largecat across state lines to a USDA facility, avet, a rehabber, or an exempted sanctuary.

Once the ownership of a prohibited cat issafely and legally transferred to a USDAlicensed facility in another state, you maynow legally drive the cat to the exemptedentity, even crossing state lines, then youmay continue about the business of yourown household move and finish construc-tion of your large cat enclosure and thenapply for any state permits required. Whenyou are state permitted and ready, you maypurchase back your large cat from the bro-ker or exhibitor you donated the cat to.

I have just advised you to follow the let-ter of the law to obtain the desired results ofkeeping your large cat when you movefrom one state to another. Have I justadvised you to circumvent the congression-al intent of the law? I don’t think so,nowhere in the background informationsupplied to Congress by the animal rightsindustry are any statistics or compellingarguments to stop large cat owners fromkeeping their cats when moving from onestate to another. Indeed, this is just an unin-tended effect of this far-reaching federalanswer to a largely overblown problem thathas been solving itself on a state-by-statebasis for years.

In another situation, such as the non-exempted person wishing to acquire a pro-hibited large cat species, passage of theCWSA means they may only purchase in-state. If no in-state sources exist, USDAlicensed brokers will probably find them-selves doing more brokering business. Forinstance, would it be illegal for a USDAlicensed broker in the state of Florida,which permits personal possession ofcougars for pets, to buy a cougar litter froma breeder in another state, import them intoFlorida and resell the cubs to state resi-dents? Has any law been violated? I don’tthink so. Has the intent of the law been cir-cumvented? Maybe, but a broker is specifi-cally licensed to do just that, buy from oneperson and sell to another. The law does notprohibit brokers from brokering. I dostrongly advise that any would-be big cat

Captive Wildlife Safety Act starts September 17, 2007What does this mean?


45

pet owners contact in-state brokers only,and stay completely out of any communica-tions to arrange any interstate brokereddeals, otherwise the federal prosecutorsmay decide you are conspiring to circum-vent the law.

So what really happened here with thepassage of the CWSA? The auction salesand Internet advertising of baby large catsto the innocent ignorant, is now a LaceyAct violation. Great, but how much of thatwas really going on? How come I cannotfind any unscrupulous tiger farmers that sell$300 baby tigers to the average Joe on thestreet? The cat community is really a smallworld, and that makes me believe this mythwas an urban legend perpetuated throughcountless media quotes.

Very few owners may someday flee aclosing state with their pet tiger or cougarbecause most big cats are already in USDAand sanctuary facilities that are exempted.But to the person in this situation, it is agrave problem indeed.

What is the punishment for gettingcaught violating the F & W and not givingaway your large feline when you need tomove to another state? Right now, maybenothing, since the F & W will have difficul-ty prosecuting anyone. The CWSA as writ-

ten is still flawed, and the prohibitions arewritten into the criminal code section of theact that requires that the violator know theanimal was illegal when it is transported, atwo-step process. The only violation in theCWSA is the single act of transporting alegally owned animal, so you cannot befound guilty.

This is where the technical amendmentcomes in along with its addition of pri-mates to the list of prohibited wildlife. IfSB 1498, the Captive Primate Act passes,then this violation is moved to another sec-tion for punishment. If Congress passes theCPA and you knowlingly violation section(e) of the title:

You may be assessed a civil penalty bythe Secretary of not more than $10,000 foreach such violation: Provided, That whenthe violation involves fish or wildlife orplants with a market value of less than$350, and involves only the transportation,acquisition, or receipt of fish or wildlife orplants taken or possessed in violation ofany law, treaty, or regulation of the UnitedStates, any Indian tribal law, any foreignlaw, or any law or regulation of any State,the penalty assessed shall not exceed themaximum provided for violation of saidlaw, treaty, or regulation, or $10,000,

whichever is less. If the value of the animal is more than

$350, then you may also be jailed for up toa year. And under the forfeiture section itappears that anyone violating the LaceyAct also runs the risk of governmentimposed forfeiture of the feline and eventhe vehicle used to transport the feline. •

• • •

Establishing theBounds of Oregon’sFish & Wildlife’sAuthority

As an outcome of last session’s legisla-tive hearings, there will be a hearing forestablishing the bounds of Fish &Wildlife’s authority. In reaction to an Ore-gon Supreme Court ruling which limitedFish & Wildlife’s authority to native ani-mals, the legislature passed SB 804, mak-ing the State of Oregon the “owner” of allfish, fowl, and mammals, to be managedunder the department of Fish & Wildlife.And yes, that definition is so broad it tech-nically even includes humans. The purposeof the meeting is to gather input on how tonarrow this down. The Fish & Wildlifehearings which established their previousboundaries were closed to animal ownersin the private sector, but included represen-tatives from the Audubon Society, the Sier-ra Club, the AZA, and other individualswho definitely did not share our interests.The private owners at the time needed toobtain a lawyer and place a legal challenge,in order to gain admittance. After gainingadmittance their input was ignored by thecommittee.

With this as a background, a few of usfrom the private sector who participated inthe legislative hearings requested to be apart of this new Fish & Wildlife hearing.With this mandated by the legislature, Fish& Wildlife has invited myself and twoother individuals to represent private own-ers. The hearings will occur on August 28and 29. If it is anything like the previousFish & Wildlife hearings, things should beinteresting.—John Turner


46

Excerpts from the journal logs—May 5,1989 to June 21, 1989.

Friday, May 5, 1989I have been suspecting that Tara was get-

ting ready to enter another estrus phase. Forinstance, about a week ago I was pullingticks off her butt and she immediately gotinto the lordosis position. Then on Wednes-day night I visited Mercury and Tara. Mer-cury was friendly but he did not want tolove on me, which is also another indica-tion of Tara being in estrus. Mercury and Iwere visiting inside of his house. He waslying beside me and purring. Tara enteredthe house and Mercury started licking heron the neck very affectionately and she waspurring. He continued to the point that sheactually let out a little sexy growl. I wastrapped inside their house as they wereblocking the entrance with their heads. Iwaited, being kind of scared to move, andthen I got up my courage and said, “Excuseme” a few times and then I just bargedthrough their grooming activities to exittheir house and nobody bit me or anything.

CCoouuggaarr DDeevveellooppmmeenntt::CCoonncclluussiioonnss AAfftteerr EElleevveenn

MMoonntthhss ooff CCoo--RReeaarriinngg

On Thursday I heard Tara screamingtwice but Mercury was just licking outsideher vagina. He hasn’t asked for any of myattention. This morning I heard Tarascreaming but it only lasted a minute and Ididn’t see any mating. I have her locked upnow and nobody is complaining.

Friday, May 11, 1989Tara has been separated from Mercury

for a week now. I am extremely surprised athow well Mercury is taking this. He hasn’tbeen complaining to gain access to Tara.Bart is convinced that Tara is putting out apheromone in the air that is making themale cougars ‘high’ that is, super sweet andgentle. Mercury will lie beside Tara’s nurs-ery and seems to be satisfied just to be nearher.

Yesterday Mercury began calling andsince I had already fed him, I figured hewanted to go to Cougar Country. Taravocalized her sexy, gravelly call. It wasearly evening and I wondered if Mercurymight just want to move over to her nurs-ery. I leashed him up and opened the door

and he practically bolted out towardsCougar Country, not missing Tara at all. Heand I went for about a forty-five minutewalk in the woods. He stalked and pouncedme twice, both times good-naturedly. Thekids were begging to be let in with Mercuryand typically Mercury was ignoring them.Mercury checked out several spots wherethe kids play including a spot in the dog-wood woods where lots of ground coverwas smashed flat. The kids must haverolled or tumbled there.

The kids ate a bunch of grass the otherday and then threw up on the first level ofthe Cougar Country tower. In the throw upwas a piece of plastic. It must be from oneof their toys but I couldn’t identify it.

Tara must be getting tired of beinglocked up but I just don’t want to chanceanything so I will continue for two or threemore days. If I touch near her butt toremove a tick she will immediately go intothe lordosis position and began calling. Theday before yesterday she didn’t eat any ofher dinner. Yesterday she ate most of herdinner but I have cut down on the size of


47

her meal; she just isn’t thinking about food.Thursday morning I threw Tara’s chicken toMercury and he ate it.

Cinni, Arjan, and Sharu have beenlocked out of Cougar Country for two days.I know they want to visit and we will letthem in today. On Wednesday I neededthem out of Cougar Country. I called andcalled and finally Cinni showed up. I direct-ed him to the Big Top and stuffed himthrough the slide gate opening into thecage. Then I walked the entire 2,000 feet offence line calling for his brothers. I gave upand left Cougar Country and then laterreturned to try again. Finally Sharuanswered me and I found him. He followedme back to the Big Top and I locked him in.Then I backtracked again and found Arjanand got him to follow me also. They reallyare pretty good about coming when calledand leaving Cougar Country when asked.

The kids still want breakfast. I have beentrying to wean them off that meal and I didfor about a week but they have begunrequesting food by noon again. They eat alarge chicken each per day, half in themorning and half at night. Mercury eats one

chicken a day and Tara less than one, abouthalf. This is their summertime appetite.

Monday, May 15, 1989Yesterday I returned from a three-day

visit to Texas. Bart took care of thecougars. He decided that Tara was out ofheat Sunday because when he stroked herback or around her tail she didn’t respondwith a lordosis position. She has beenlocked up since last Friday. Sunday after-noon I heard the cougars mating, only itwas different than usual. Tara would beginto scream for about five to ten seconds, andthen Mercury would scream and then Tarawould growl at him. I walked over to checkthings out. My presence intimidated Mer-cury and he dismounted from Tara in frontof me.

Later I heard them again. It was thesame. The mating was very short, endingwith Mercury screaming. I assumed maybeTara was moving and hurting Mercury’spenis or Mercury was thrusting and miss-ing, causing him to bend his penis. Butwhat I saw wasn’t like that. Mercury wouldbe very still and so was Tara, but he would

interrupt the mating with a screamand then dismount. I think it was ascream of pain and I plan to call afew vets today. I managed to lockTara back up in the nursery laterthat afternoon and she is there still.

The kids gave me a super greet-ing, all running up from CougarCountry to see me in the Big Top. Iwas wearing shorts but they didn’tattack my legs. I think they are get-ting used to seeing my bare legs. Ialso went for a walk with them inCougar Country later in the after-noon. Sharu lay on a pile of woodand I sat near him and picked afew ticks off him. He ate them likeMercury does. He was purringloudly and happy to be near me.That evening I also visited them inthe Big Top enclosure and Cinniloved on my hand while Arjancuddled up to me and purred.Sharu wouldn’t come over. Hefound a piece of meat to eatinstead. They were wonderful.

Wednesday, May 31, 1989

Tara has been in heat for almost fourweeks. We have been careful to keep Mer-cury and Tara separated. After she had beenin heat for ten days we put them togetherand they began to mate, so we separatedthem until it had been 14 days, which islonger than she has ever been in heat. Shewas no longer assuming the lordosis posi-tion if we touched her tail area so weallowed them to be together again. Theybegan to mate so Bart called Tara back intoher nursery cage and we separated them foranother three days. Then we gave themaccess to each other at 17 days but theybegan to mate again, only Mercury wouldcut off the mating after about five seconds,seeming to scream out in pain. This hadhappened once before after ten days. Soonce again we tricked Tara into the nurserycage for three more days. At 22 days weallowed them together again but once againthey started to mate, only this time therewas no screaming of pain by Mercury andthe mating lasted a more normal amount oftime. They stayed together overnight beforewe succeeded in separating them. YesterdayMercury spent the day in Cougar Countryand Tara had the run of the Cougarama hill-side exercise area. When Mercury returnedback home and we allowed Mercury access

Lynn scratches Mercury

Sharu at boundary of Cougar Country.


48

to Tara after her 26 days of estrus, onceagain I heard them mating but they onlydid it about three or four times. Last nightin the dark I walked outside and heard Taragrowling at Mercury and avoiding him.They haven’t mated this morning so maybeTara’s estrus cycle is finally over.

Wednesday, June 21, 1989Tara ended her heat on June first. I don’t

think she is pregnant but I won’t know forsure for at least two more weeks when sheshould either return to estrus or her nipplesshould start swelling. She has been mostaffectionate to me, which sort of indicatesshe is pregnant, but it could also mean thatall the hormone and jealousy behavior isbehind her.

Tara has visited the kids three times thismonth. Each time she has wanted to go intothe Big Top, but once inside she has beenvery growly and intolerant of her kid’sattention. She has rebuffed their groomingof her and she doesn’t even let them laybeside her. Their first reaction to her when

she first enters their Big Top enclosure is togang up on her and chase her and she is notpleased with this behavior at all.

I feel this change in behavior means thateither she is pregnant or that once havingreturned to estrus she is hormonally con-trolled to sever ties with her first litter. It issurprising to me because I really thoughtTara would always remain friendly to them.After all, she loves Mercury’s companyand he is a male. The kids don’t understandTara’s reaction to them. I feel that Tara’srejection of them has made them moreaffectionate to us. They realize that we willalways love them and if they want lovingthey will have to please us and seek us.

Sharu is especially purry lately and sinceTara has rejected him he wants our love.Cinni is without a doubt the most affection-ate cougar in the world. Arjan is a show-man. He is the best jumper and game play-er. Bart has been working with him and hehas learned several commands and trickson the pedestals. He will stand up and jumpthe entire five pedestals one after another.

He is also very affection-ate.

I have visited themnumerous nights andreceived much lovingfrom them. Last night Bartand I both visited them inthe full moon light. Theyambushed us several timesand Bart ended up beingbitten on the head byArjan who jumped himfrom behind while Bartwas disciplining Sharu,who had been biting earli-er. Their behavior wasvery mischievous and outof character. They coulddefinitely be very danger-ous full grown if theydon’t learn more respect.But I understand that thisis part of their age and thematuring process. Sharubit me in the neck, whichis definitely a no-no. Theybite each other on theneck, often with the victimand the aggressor purring.

It is a love bite but they need to understandthat their skin is much tougher than ours.

Mercury has been screaming at nightlately and it really is bothersome. I realizethat it is a full moon and he is a nocturnalanimal but I can’t be getting up in the mid-dle of the night to play with him. He hasbeen to Cougar Country several times thispast week without Tara, as she was visitingwith her kids in their Big Top. Mercury hasnot been very good about staying inCougar Country without our company andI have to spend time walking with him tokeep him happy. He sleeps most of the dayon his tower and he is extremely friendlyand purring.

I have been estimating their food needsvery well lately and there hasn’t been muchwasting of food. They are eating entireroosters and hens without leaving the backsand thighs as they have in the past. Andthey have eaten more horsemeat than usual,as I wanted to clean out the freezer of oldermeat.

Conclusion after eleven months of co-rais-ing cougars

It is a complete surprise to me that Tarawould reject her boys after her estrus. Itwas a surprise that Tara returned to estrusafter only nine and a half months from herdelivery of the three boys. In nature itwould have been another six to 12 monthsbefore she returned to sexual receptivity,but our experiment has still resulted in amuch longer interval between estrus cyclesthan average, so I feel that the kids’ pres-ence and interaction with Tara did influ-ence her hormones. Perhaps lately weweren’t letting Tara see them enough andso she returned to estrus, but we are busyand sometimes Tara only saw them once aweek.

She always got along with her boysbefore she returned to estrus. They alwaysganged up on her when Tara first enteredtheir Big Top compound and they alwayschased her around, the difference is afterher estrus she was growling and grumblingat them. Perhaps she now feels threatenedby their size and numbers and this is justher way of establishing dominance. Whenwe leash her up to move her, she does walktoward their compound instead of Cougar

Cougar cuddle: Lynn hugging Arjan.


49

Country so maybe things will even outover time. For now things seem hostile,though Tara stays with them for hoursand eventually things settle down.

The kids love us dearly and want toplease us. They are comfortable with usthough they haven’t been trustworthywith strangers. Arjan and Cinni are bothterrified of the lawnmower, racing theback fence line the whole time I ammowing. I never remember Mercury orTara acting like that. Overall they arevery domestic cougars. I feel comfortablewith them though they do need to maturea little more before they grow up. Theycan be very dangerous if they choose.

After almost a year of sharing the cubswith Tara I have to say that the ideaworks and produces well-adjusted cougarpersonalities. One has to be careful of themother at times, especially if the cubsshow favoritism toward their humans.Tara definitely was dangerous for a fewmonths, attacking me when I wasn’tlooking and being very untrustworthy. I

still don’t trust her but shehas been very loving latelyand seems to harbor no moreaggression toward me. It ishard to share your kids and Icompletely understandTara’s feelings. She is a veryspecial lady to tolerate all ofour interference and domi-nance of her offspring.

Mercury, I am afraid, willnever have contact withCinnabar, Arjan, or Sharu.He still growls at them andavoids their compound whenhe is in Cougar Country. Thekids still call to him but itcould be that they just wantto be in Cougar Country, notthat they want to be withMercury. It is all right thatthings ended up this way.Four cougars in one com-pound are really too many towatch out for. • Sign of danger: Home-made cougar warning sign

outside of enclosure.

Cougar Development covers a two and a halfyear period of research and behavior observation.

It is produced and shot by Lynn andBart Culver at the Natural Order

Animal Husbandry (NOAH)Feline Conservation Center.

Shot in 1988 to 1990 witha video camera and nowremastered on DVD, theamazing two hour pro-gram offers viewers enter-tainment as well insightinto the stages of growth,

behavior, and personalitydevelopment of America’s

great predator, puma concolor.This video contains amazing

footage that could not have been cap-tured without the close bond of love and

trust existing between cougar and researcher. View-

ers of this video watch Tara’s naturalinstincts guide her through her first deliv-ery. Other scenes include Tara and hersons playing in the snow, the adolescentcougars running through their spring-fedwatercourse, fantastic jumping demon-strations in a lively game of catfishing,and finally, the adult cougars walkingwith researchers through Cougar Coun-try.

Cougar Development teaches youabout the patience necessary to be acougar mother, the sibling roughhousingwhich is a natural part of cougar behav-ior, the humor, good nature, and theincredible capacity for love that exists inthese wondrous creatures. Order a copytoday for only $25.00. Mail check madeout to FCF to: Cougar DVD, 7816 Coun-ty Road 75 W, Shelburn, IN 47879.

Cougar Development DVD

Staring the cougars of N.O.A.H. Feline Conservation CenterTara & Mercury, parents of Cinnabar, Arjan & Sharu

Filmed by Lynn and Bart CulverEdited by Lynn Culver

141 Polk 664Mena, AR 71953479-394-5235


50

The general membership meeting wascalled to order by Brian Werner, vice presi-dent.

Lynn Culver, president, announced theresignation of and offered thanks to BobTurner and J. B. Anderson for their longhistory of service to the FCF.

The board members that were presentwere introduced.

Evelyn Shaw gave a brief review of thenew Field Representative Program andthose field directors that were presentwhere introduced. A call for volunteers toapply for the State Representatives wasmade.

Lynn Culver reviewed the registeredhandlers program and the Facility Accredi-tation Program and asked the membershipto support and participate in both. “Doc”Antle, a member of the accreditation com-mittee, spoke on the importance for FCFand its members to apply for accreditation.He gave advice to build structures that areof sufficient strength and will last for themany years of the life of the cat.

Kevin Chambers presented a briefoverview of the treasurers report.

Lynn asked the members tobecome more active and promotenew membership. The FCF has pro-duced a full-color glossy brochureavailable to spread awareness of theorganization. The brochures can berequested by members to help recruitnew members. They will be sent tofield directors and state representa-tives for distributing to media andlegislators when contacting them.Enough have been printed for distrib-ution to FCF exhibitor members fordisplay in their gift shops.

Several members expressed someconcern over the possibility of loss ofcontrol of the organization fromwithin by intensive membership dri-ves. Lynn asked that everyone try topromote a positive media image bybuilding personal relationships withthe local feature reporter and pitchgood news stories in your communi-

ty.Betsy Whitlock told the membership

that the board had voted to accept TIBBA(The International Bengal Breeders Associ-ation) as an affiliate. FCF will continue toreach out to hybrid breeders and other catgroups to ban together for legislative sup-port.

Evelyn Shaw gave a brief review of thestatus of Haley’s Act, the Primate SafetyAct, and how it might affect enforcementof the Captive Wildlife Safety Act.

Brian Werner announced the two newboard positions, Director of Marketing andDirector of Development. These willreplace the two Directors-at-Large posi-tions. He asked the members to considervolunteering to fill those positions.

Lynn Culver announced that the boardwas looking into another Africa trip raffleand more information would be forthcom-ing.

Lynn Culver adjourned the meeting.—Elizabeth W. Whitlock, FCF Secretary

FCF General Membership Meeting MinutesDallas Convention, July 28, 2007

Total

ASSETS

Current Assets

Bank Accounts

First Nat'l Bank & Trust CD's 25,000.00

First Nat'l Bank & Trust Ken Hatfield CD 12,541.87

First Nat'l Bank and Trust Checking 11,846.29

Harris Ebay Checking 52.91

Paypal 1,423.88

Smith Barney Savings 0.92

Total Bank Accounts 50,865.87$

Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable 850.00

Total Accounts Receivable 850.00$

Other Current Assets

Undeposited Funds 405.00

Total Other Current Assets 405.00$

Total Current Assets 52,120.87$

TOTAL ASSETS 52,120.87$

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

Liabilities

Total Liabilities

Equity

Opening Balance Equity 46,260.83

Retained Earnings 106.95

Net Income 5,753.09

Total Equity 52,120.87$

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 52,120.87$

Feline Conservation FederationBalance SheetAs of July 23, 2007


51

a set of tentative bylaw changes, commentby September 1, 2007, and deal with themat an October board meeting.

Kevin Chambers, treasurer, moved thatthe Mission Statement in the new brochurecreated by Lynn Culver be adopted: “TheFeline Conservation Federation, Inc. is a501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that con-serves wild felines through preservation,education, and research.” Evelyn Shaw sec-onded the motion. 8 yes, motion passes

Kevin Chambers, treasurer, moved thatthe FCF motto be changed to: “Preserving,Protecting, and Propagating since 1955”Lynn Culver seconded, 7 yes, 1 abstained,motion passes.

Brian Werner proposed that the FCFconsider tiered membership. It was furtherproposed that there be separate funds forrescue, conservation, and education. Noaction was taken on either proposal.

Mindy Stinner moved that Brian build asample web site for future use. Lynn Culverseconded the motion. 7 yes, 1 abstained,motion passes. The board asked that Brian

Morning Session:Meeting was called to order by Brian

Werner. Lynn Culver, president, BrianWerner, vice president, Betsy Whitlock,secretary, Kevin Chambers, treasurer,Mindy Stinner, Carol Bohning, EvelynShaw, and J.B. Anderson attended themeeting.

Brian presented several topics for theboard’s consideration and review butrequested no vote at this time allowing theboard to give additional consideration toitems included but not limited to:1) Brian suggested we have the followinglaw firm perform a “Legal Audit.” WilliamJ. Olson PC AAL, 8180 Greensboro Drive,Suite 1070, McLean, VA 22102-3860. Mr.Olsen is experienced in auditing nonprofitcorporations to assure that nothing in thebylaws will conflict with public image andfund raising.2) Concerns for fund raising 3) Growth of the organization and income 4) Disciplinary processes 5) Brian set a goal to have the board review

Board Meeting Minutes, July 26, 2007, Convention, Dallas Texashave this sample complete in 90 days.

Brian moved that the board approve aposition of executive director be createdonce funding is in place and that an admin-istrative assistant also be approved subjectto funding. Mindy Stinner 2nd the motion,7 yes, 1 no, motion passes.

Betsy Whitlock moved that the minutesof the Board Meeting from 5/21 to 5/28 beapproved, Evelyn Shaw seconded themotion. 8 yes votes, motion passes.

Kevin Chambers presented the treasurersreport. He indicated that there is a problemwith collecting for advertising and fundraising. He reported that $2,600 was col-lected in the fund for speakers and askedthat the board consider dispersing the addi-tional funds to the speakers for the conven-tion since their expenses had exceeded theoriginal $2,000 projected flight costs.

It was suggested that we organize anoth-er raffle for a trip to an African destination.Kevin will work on details.

Brian moved that Kevin pursue filing insmall claims court to recover the expenses

charged by Evers and Compa-ny, the accounting firm theboard feels is responsible forthe botched election votecount. Mindy Stinner second-ed the motion. 7 yes, 1abstain, motion passes.

It was discussed andagreed to extend the eBaystore for one year to allowtime for it to develop.

Lynn Culver moved thatwe approve an affiliatedmembership to TIBBA. Eve-lyn Shaw seconded themotion. 8 yes, motion passes.It was discussed that the FCFreach out to other hybrid andcat based organization forsupport in fighting negativelegislation initiatives. It wasagreed that the RegionalDirectors should handle this.

Ten minute break to moveto the restaurant and continueover lunch.

Evelyn Shaw discussedwriting a bill to preemptivelystrike legislation in various

FelineConservationFederation

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53

states. She reviewed the field rep programstatus and indicated that they are workingon contact lists, contact info, and a centralemail site.

Evelyn Shaw moved that FCF not renewthe affiliation with the OAAO. Brian Wern-er seconded the motion. 6 yes, 1 abstain, 1no, motion passed.

Carol Bohning reported on the NY hus-bandry class. She had 19 students and net-ted $323.19, less the expense for reprintingbooks. She had 30 students in the conven-tion husbandry class, and she suggested weadvertise the class in various venues. Theboard discussed the need for additionalteachers, consider paying teachers, offeringshort courses in specific topics like nutri-tion. Carol said we should organize anotherOhio class.

J. B. Anderson reviewed some of theLotty changes implemented by Bob thisyear. Brian proposed that the Lotty bylawsbe removed from article 12 (12.1) and beplaced in a policy and procedure manual.Lynn Culver seconded the motion. 7 yes, 1abstained, motion passes.

J. B. Anderson discussed writing grantproposals to the Safari International club toobtain additional funding.

Lynn Culver moved that we securetrademark protection for the Feline Conser-vation Federation. No vote was taken.

Discussion was held regarding promot-ing the Africa trip with a cutoff date ofOctober 1, 2007 by FCF members. Noaction was taken.

Lynn proposed a request from MikeFriese that FCF mail out an anonymous cat

inventory survey of the member’s animals.The discussion of the board indicated thatthe majority did not feel it would be ofvalue.

Lynn proposed a request from MikeFriese that FCF offer in the Nov/Dec Jour-nal issue a flyer to members to purchase$20 gift certificates for a 1-year journalsubscription to give to friends, family, andassociates (not full membership rights), fol-lowed by an invitation to the journal sub-scribers to join the organization as a fullmember when the subscription expires.Mindy Stinner seconded the motion. 5 yes,1 no, 1 abstained, motion passes.

Evelyn Shaw moved to amend the by-laws to eliminate the second Director atLarge position and change it to a Directorof Development, and that the positionshould be responsible for soliciting adver-tisers for the journal, convention, FCFevents, and the website. The amendedbylaw would read 6.1F “Director at Large(one position)” and add 6.1 G Director ofDevelopment. Lynn Culver seconded themotion. 6 yes, 1 no, motion passes.

Evelyn Shaw moved that we amend bylaw 6.7 Public Relations. That we strike“Solicits display advertising for the FCFmagazine and web site” from the PublicRelations description add by law 6.9Development: Solicits display advertisingfor the FCF Journal, convention, FCFevents, and web site. Lynn Culver secondsthe motion, 6 yes, 1 nay, motion passes.

Discussion on the location of the 2008FCF convention was tabled.

J. B. Anderson moved that the board

move to executive session to discuss per-sonnel issues. Brian Werner seconded themotion, 7 yes, motion passes.

J. B. Anderson was concerned over whathe referred to as “mode of conduct” bysome members. J. B. tendered his resigna-tion as Director at Large.

Kevin Chambers moved we adjourn themeeting, Mindy Stinner seconded themotion. Meeting was adjoined.—Elizabeth W. Whitlock, FCF Secretary

FCF Board Meeting MinutesEvening Session

Meeting called to order by Lynn Culverto discuss the new opening on the boardcaused by the resignation of J. B. Ander-son. Lynn Culver President, Brian WernerVice President, Betsy Whitlock, Secretary,Kevin Chambers, Treasurer, Evelyn Shaw,Carol Bohning, and Mindy Stinner attendedthe meeting.

Evelyn Shaw moved that in bylaw 6.1 FDirector at Large be stricken and that a newpositions Director of Marketing replace andthat the position be defined at a later meet-ing of the Board. Kevin Chambers second-ed the motion, 7 yes, motion passes

Evelyn Shaw suggested that Bob and J.B. be thanked for their past services andthat the board tries to dispel rumors fromthe membership.

There was discussion on what should beon the agenda for the general membershipmeeting.

Lynn Culver adjourned the meeting.—Elizabeth W. Whitlock, FCF Secretary

SANDUSKY by John Prengaman

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Predatory eyes secretly watch the move-ment of a muntjac as it nervously forageson moonlit vegetation. Calculating the bestapproach, the hungry ASIAN GOLDENCAT (catopuma temmincki) sinuouslymoves through the thick brush to withinseveral yards of her intended prey.Moments later the successful cat restsalongside her new meal which will bebrought back to her three kittens safely hid-den within the cavity of a tree. They’realmost six months old and ready to beweaned. A proud and protective parent, thisfemale has been teaching them how to huntsmaller prey such as rodents, reptiles, andsmall birds, which seem like appetizers tothe adult cat. Some day when the kittens aremuch bigger and their confidence runshigh, they will learn to hunt more challeng-ing animals such as water buffalo calves.

Living with people definitely requiresthe skill of evasion but the good thing is

that they usually come with tasty poultry,goats, and sheep. The Asian golden catknows that hunting their livestock onlyinstigates retribution but as forest habitatslowly (sometimes quickly) disappears, thecat feels it doesn’t have much of a choice.Because this wildcat is an opportunisticfeeder eating whatever it can catch on theground or in the trees, it may have a betterchance of survival despite continuous per-secution.

This uniformly-colored (reddish to gold-en brown to grayish brown), 19 to 33-pound wildcat usually lives in tropical andsubtropical rainforests and dry deciduousforests up to 10,000 feet. It also inhabitsmore open, rocky, and grassy areas. Scat-tered populations reside in Nepal, northeastIndia, China, and through Southeast Asia toSumatra.

Named after the Dutch naturalist, Coen-raad Jacob Temminck, the behavior and

ecology of the Asian golden cat is stilllargely unknown due to lack of study. How-ever, attempts to improve captive-breedingtechniques for this wildcat continue.

Even in the 21st century little is knownabout the small wildcats, weighing less than45 pounds and comprising three-quarters ofthe world’s 36 cat species. However, as thepublic’s understanding and interest blos-som, starting with a visit to the local zoo,conservation programs there along withorganizations such as the Small Cat Conser-vation Alliance can garner support neededto study these elusive cats. Ultimately, con-servation through understanding benefitsall.© 2007 Rochelle Mason. Rochelle Masonraises awareness about endangered speciesthrough her paintings, columns and travel-ing exhibits. Her wildcat paintings andprints are sold through www.Rmasonfin-earts.com

FOCUS ON NATURE ®

Insight into the lives of animalsASIAN GOLDEN CAT

YourbestShotFrom top:Fred Boyajian kisses his Romeo, theHardison’s Siberian lynx—Phil Park-er • Christy, Julia, and Jesika (L-R)socialize Teresa Shaffer’s baby ser-vals—Mike Friese

FCF Upcoming EventsSaturday, October 20, 2007, Husbandry Course. 8:00am-5:00pm. Columbus,Ohio. (Airport CMH) Butternut Farms Wildcat Sanctuary is hosting the next FCFBasic Wild Feline Husbandry Course. This 8-hour course is a must for the respon-sible private owner. Topics include regulations, nutrition, caging, contingencyplans, natural history, and more. Registration flyer inside. On Sunday studentsmay tour Butternut Farms Wildcat Sanctuary, home of bobcat, Siberian lynx,cougar, and serval. Send $65 registration fee ($95 non-FCF members) to: Butter-nut Farms, 13740 Blamer Road, Jamestown, OH 43031. Questions? Call CarolBohning 614-562-5647.

January 18-27, 2008, Safari. FCF’s own 7-night safari to South Africa. Fly fromDulles to Johannesburg. Experience 4 nights at Savannah Cheetah Foundation inthe company of tame cheetahs. Enjoy guided game rides and walks, canoe theVaal River, or relax by the pool. Next, take a short flight to Sabi Sabi private gamereserve in Kruger National Park for 3 nights stay at Little Bush Lodge where youwill take escorted game drives to see the big five (lions, leopard, giraffe, rhino andbuffalo.) Book by October 1, 25% deposit required, $5,900 total per person, dou-ble occupancy. All transportation, lodging, meals, and taxes included. Questions?Call Gail Laviola at 479-394-2237.

Cheetah chasing lure at CheetahOutreach, an educational facility inSouth Africa. Photo by ThierryPlaud. Nikon D200, Nikon 200-400VR lens.

Documents

Feline Conservation Federation · 2019-06-13 · Feline Conservation Federation Volume 51, Issue 5—September/October 2007 3 This magazine is published bi-monthly by the Feline Conservation