Rare cats in Tokyo, Yokohama

By Features Desk
Publisher:The Yomiuri Shimbun - Publication Date: 17-10-2007

Inokashira Park Zoo in Musashino, western Tokyo, and Yokohama Zoorasia in Yokohama will show from Oct 20 endangered Tsushima yamaneko wildcats indigenous to Tsushima island in Nagasaki.
A Tsushima yamaneko, with a pale brown body marked by leopardlike patterns, weighs three to five kilograms and is 50 to 60cm from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail.
The species has been protected under the nation's Law for the Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The wildcats' population is falling as their habitats are shrinking due to the development of the island, and many have been hit and killed by vehicles on the island's roads.
There are believed to be only between 80 and 110 Tsushima yamaneko living wild on the island.
In 1999, the Environment Ministry launched a programme to breed the species in captivity at Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center on the island and Fukuoka Municipal Zoo in Fukuoka.
Last November, the ministry transferred one pair of the species to Inokashira Park Zoo and another pair to Yokohama Zoorasia, as insurance against any possible epidemic of infectious diseases among the species in captivity.
The wildcat to be shown at the Tokyo zoo is the male of one of the pairs. He was born April 9, 2002, at the Fukuoka zoo and was transferred to the Tokyo zoo via the Tsushima centre, where he lived for two years.
The one to be shown at Zoorasia is the female of the other pair. She was born in May 2003 at the Fukuoka zoo.
At the Tokyo zoo on Oct 20 and 21, a lecture on the wildcats will be given in Japanese by a zookeeper from 11:30am and 2pm, while printed panels describing the breeding project will be on display from Oct 20 to March 30 next year.

foto attached

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They are beautiful.

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