Feeling artistic

It's been a long time since I've picked up a paint brush, but I had the urge to be creative so I dusted off the pallet and paints and had a go. This was the result... a very loose warm-up painting. The subjects are one of the Pallas Cats (fast becoming a favourite) and one of the young Amur tigers at WHF, currently just under a year old and growing fast! I will probably be doing a few more of these as I really enjoyed it... 

Pallas cat (fast paint - acylic)

Amur tiger cub in acrylic

Maintenance day...

It's not all fun and games with the cats every day... some days it's just maintenance tasks and making the site look better. I spent a large portion of the day painting enclosures and checking for damage. I won't kid you... this is a lot less fun than doing the usual feeds and cleans, but on a nice sunny day it's kind of enjoyable, plus it's a very important task. Ensuring the enclosures are painted keeps them in good condition, prevents rust and the obvious escape risk. 

It was fun to see the cats' reaction to us painting and the paint itself.  Climbing on top of the den roof to reach the higher parts of the fence whilst there is a curious male lion looking up at you is a little daunting. Discovering one of the lions has a fascination with the newly painted doors resulted in a rather green-faced Tiny. The quantities he managed to rub off on his face were not high enough to be harmful, but just enough to be a distraction to the photographers that were in later that day. 

The enclosure now looks very green and like new, and I have a wonderful green speckled complexion that just won't budge. Nice to be out in the sun all day though! 

The day was topped off with a visit from the vet team - more to come later on that. Nothing too serious, one of the Amur leopards needed an exploratory operation in search of a possible foreign body in his foot. Strangely enough I had been through a similar operation with my Jack Russell last summer - grass seed above his eye. Fascinating watching the operation on a larger cat, and privileged to watch a vet team at work... but yes, I'll go into that more later on. 

Meet Yazhi

I thought Yazhi would be a good cat to start with because she has so much character. Yazhi, I am told is the Native American word for "little one." She is one of four pumas (cougar/mountain lion) at WHF, a total of three females and one male are currently on site. She was hand reared at our sister park, Paradise Wildlife Park, when her mother rejected her as a cub, and therefore she is one of the friendliest cats on site, loving cuddles and walks in the morning and her recently discovered vocal talent has given her some internet fame already. We were considering entering her for Britain's Got Talent.... Incidentally, she is not being hurt or injured, and is not angry in the clip, she is in season. It's possible she's so vocal in this clip for a few reasons: a) there is a male puma not too far away in another enclosure; b) if you listen closely there is an echo (usual for the area).

I hadn't had much to do with Yazhi until the beginning of this week. I witnessed a morning walk in which she decided to plonk herself down and sing away (as per previous clip) and bluntly refused to budge. Funny for those watching, but perhaps not so funny for the keepers who were trying to coax her back into her enclosure. The reluctant feline had to be carried back in the end. She didn't stop singing the whole time, then as soon as she was placed on the floor again she trotted off with a backwards "ner" glance as she went.

They're incredibly soft cats, I was expecting them to have coats very similar to lions, but was surprised to find it silky and soft to touch. She quite happily allowed a tickle through the bars, and we even found her "tickle spot" ... the spot all animals seem to have. The spot where once found the back leg involuntarily needs to itch. Very funny seeing it in a big cat. I also had a game (more commonly initiated by the servals) of "catch the feet under the door." My feet that is not hers... I was waiting for one of the keepers to return with the keys, and busying myself by watching Yazhi inside when this happened...

No feet or paws were harmed in the making of the video! She is a great cat, and certainly one I'll enjoy working with over the next few months. I'm sure there will be more tales to come.

A day in the life...

To give you a rough idea of what i've let myself in for I thought I'd break my "normal" day down. Every day is however...different. As cliche as that sounds it is very true for animal care, and life at WHF is no different.

"Ingenious" hiding place take 1

AM - 
Head to meat room to prepare feeds (a scary amount of flesh and blood)
Add numerous vitamins and supplements to meat
Put in wheelbarrow/back in fridge if for PM feeds
Prepare cleaning wheelbarrow: fresh straw etc
Head over to first cats of the day - usually one of the tigers or lions
Lock cats in - go poo and bone hunting (and remove)
Put meat in "ingenious hiding place" 
Add some extra enrichment - such as scents/boomer balls/boxes etc
Lock up and double check locks
Let cats out who discovered "ingeniously hidden meat" in 5seconds
Curse and try to think of more ingenious hiding place for next time
Lock cats out - clean beds by removing wet straw and wash/disinfect as needed
Check waters and change /clean
Lock everything
Move on to next cats until PM

PM - 

Nice clean tiger beds

Target training with cheetah (Mia) or sometimes lion (Manzi)
Feed any remaining cats, and clean enclosures in and out
Head out for small cat feeds
Play "quail on a rope" with servals and lynx (mood dependent)
Clean inside and out of small cat enclosures
Play mind games with male North Chinese Leopard
North Chinese Leopard ALWAYS wins - sulk a bit then eventually beat him and watch temper tantrum unfold
Feed/clean remaining
Head back to meat room and tidy up
Head to visitor centre for meeting/news

Cheetah target training

Of course things like broken enclosure "furniture" takes priority if it's found, as happened a few days ago when we discovered a rotten support in the female jaguar enclosure. This sort of thing gets dealt with as soon as it's found so the cat can get back to it's outside area as soon as possible. Also general maintenance of enclosures and surrounding areas as we go, so I've been doing some painting and bailing of water to keep things looking good and swamp free too.  I'll eventually go into my detail about all these jobs, especially things like enrichment, which you could quite easily write a phone-book size book about. 

WHF also have some members of the public coming to the site for tours, ranger days or big cat encounters (meet the cats - private tours etc) which are run by pretty much all members of staff and volunteers.  These are done on a more ad-lib basis, and although I'm not fully trained to do them yet, I will eventually (a scary thought!).







 

A quick species introduction

WHF is a site quite unlike other zoological sites in that it houses only cats. On my first visit I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of enclosures and species that are cared for there, and still after almost two weeks of volunteering there I am trying to remember who and what is where. In an attempt to get to grips with names and species I attempted to compile a list and with the help of the keepers and other volunteers the total came to fifty-three individuals representing eighteen species (including sub-species). WHF is currently home to: 

Pallas cat - Wei Shand

African lions - both tawny and white (Panthera leo) : 6

Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) : 6

Amur/Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) : 5

Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) : 2

Hybrid tiger : 1

Snow leopard (Uncia uncia) : 1

Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) : 6

North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) : 2

African leopard - black (Panthera pardus) : 1

Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) : 2

Serval (Leptailurus serval) : 5

Rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) : 1

Black African leopard - Khan

Pumas/cougar/mountain lions (Puma concolor) : 4

Pallas cat/manul (Otocolobus manul) : 3

Jaguar (Panthera onca) : 2

Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) : 2

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) : 1

Jungle cat (Felis chaus): 1

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatas) : 2

Over time I shall give an introduction to these species and individual cats at WHF and how/why they came to be at the site. Many are part of a European breeding program (EEP), others are rescued animals and some have been retired from other zoological sites. Even after such a short time working with them I have seen their differences in personality, and favourites although hard to chose are beginning to surface. Again this is something I shall touch upon in future entries, along with more details on the conservation efforts for these species. For now I shall leave you with some teaser pictures that I have managed to snap on my rounds. 

Lion pugmark (plus one cold hand)

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

In the Kentish countryside near the village of Smarden you can find the Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF). It is a thirty-eight acre sanctuary for big cats, and currently home to some of the most endangered cat species in the world. It is here that I shall be spending the next six months, as I am one of the latest recruits to join a voluntary internship. Like all good volunteers I'm keen to learn anything and everything about my new charges, and the idea behind this blog is to keep a record of my weekly activities and jot down a few of my thoughts from seeing how things work behind the scenes. Hopefully it will be an eye opening, exciting six months! 

The site has humble origins as the Big Cat Sanctuary owned by Malcom Dudding and used as a site to re-home rescued big cats with an association with Born Free. In June 2000 Paradise Wildlife Park owners, the Sampson family purchased the Big Cat Sanctuary with the aim to establish the site as a “conservation centre of excellence”. The Wildlife Heritage Foundation was consequentially established, and is now a registered charity enabling it to raise money to help fund in-situ big cat conservation projects. 

As with all good zoological sites WHF is concerned with scientific research, promotion and funding of field conservation projects and delivering an education program that promotes the importance of a bio-diversity, and explains the role of apex predators to visitors. 

The site itself is a haven for big cats, and not like the typical zoo. It is not fully open to the public, but instead has a number of open days in the summer months. There are a number of pre-bookable experiences that allow members of the public to see and support the site, including the very popular photographic workshops and big cat experiences. The majority of the time it is only the keepers and volunteers around site, allowing the cats to live peacefully.

WHF is an exciting venture still in relatively early years, with some interesting and bold aims, but I think it is certainly one to watch for the future and there is no question that the staff and army of volunteers are dedicated enough to reach those aims and beyond. I'm excited to be joining the team and can't wait to get stuck in! 

WHF site courtesy of WHF facebook page