Although I am still in training, I gave a feeding tour yesterday. Feeding tours are different from our regular day tours, the groups are smaller and most guests have visited BCR before. So, as a guide I have to focus on the species’ habitat, hunting skills and diet.

Below are some of the talking points from our tour script.

Tonga, the white serval
There are only 2 white servals known in the world, and they both live here at BCR. Their lack of color means they have no camouflage for their environment, and therefore they don’t survive to adulthood.

• Servals live in Africa and are phenomenal hunters.
• Their large ears allow them to hear mice and lizards walking underground.
• They can jump 10 feet in the air and catch birds in flight.
• Servals use their paws to swat the birds to the ground and eat them.

Canyon the sand cat
He is the offspring of wild-caught refugees from the first Gulf War.

• Sand cats live in the Sahara desert and the Middle East.They hunt by digging, their large ears allow them to hear prey at great distances and underground.
• They eat primarily gerbils, but will also take birds, reptiles and insects.
• They will cover large kills with sand and return later to feed.
• Sand cats are known for being good snake hunters—they stun the snake with a rapid blow to the head, then deliver the killing bite to the neck.
• Their feet have fur over the soft pads to protect them from being burned on the hot sand.
• They get all of their moisture in the wild from their prey.

Trick E
Trick E is an Amur leopard cat, found in Siberia, Manchuria and Korea. These little cats are hunted for their coat, and also used to breed with domestic cats, resulting in the Bengal cat.

• Leopard cats inhabit a wide range of environments, and will hunt on the ground or in trees.
• Their primary diet consists of rodents, young ungulates, hares, birds, reptiles, insects, eels, fish, and occasionally carrion.
• They are agile climbers and very active hunters, preferring to hold their prey still with their claws until it’s dead.
• They dispatch the prey with a very rapid pounce and bite.

Reno, Cheetaro and Sundari
Reno is a golden leopard. He is a former circus performer.  Cheetaro is a golden leopard who came here from a roadside zoo, where he lived in a corn crib with his mate. Sundari was born here at the sanctuary, during the early days of BCR.

• Leopards are native to Africa and Asia, and can be black or golden.
• They are excellent hunters, capable of lifting 2-3 times their body weight high into a tree.
• The leopard is one of the smartest and deadliest cats in the world, and a very successful hunter due to its extreme stealth and speed, which can top 35 mph.
• They stash their kills up there so they can return to feed and other large carnivores won’t steal their food.
• It is their large skulls and extremely strong jaw muscles that allow them to do this.
• Their main diet is several types of antelope.
• They are opportunistic hunters, with a diet of over 30 different animals, including carrion.

Thing, the binturong
He was born here back in 1999 to parents thought too old to breed.

• Binturongs are also called bearcats, but are not bears or cats.
• They are in the same family as the civet and the mongoose.
• They live in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, and they are primarily nocturnal and arboreal.  That huge tail is prehensile and helps them with climbing.
• They are omnivores, so here at Big Cat they get fresh fruit for lunch, and meat at dinner time.  In the wild they eat mostly fruit, but also hunt rodents, insects and birds, using a stalking hunting manner, much like cats.
• They eat fruit hanging upside down in a tree with their tail and back feet clutching the branch.
• Their paws are able to manipulate and open the fruits very well.
• Binturongs also swim, and will catch fish with their very long claws.

Sabre, the black leopard
He was a pet, left here when his owners moved and left no forwarding address.

• Black leopards are rarer than golden ones, and mostly occur in the mountains (such as Mount Kenya) and forests of Southeast Asia.
• The dark fur affords them great camouflage.
• Leopards of every color can leap 20 feet horizontally and about 10 feet vertically, and will swim if they have to.

Narla, the cougar
Narla is a former pet from Rhode Island, whose owner didn’t want her anymore after her husband died.

• Known as cougar, puma, panther, or mountain lion.
• Cougars are the largest cat in the U.S., up to 200 lbs.
• Capable of jumping 18 feet vertically, 40 feet horizontally.
• They are also excellent runners and jumpers.
• Cougars are very agile and very strong, which allows them to bring down large, fast prey like deer, coyotes, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as rabbits, raccoons, and birds.
• They hunt by stalking to within 30 feet of their prey, then pouncing and killing with a bite to the neck with their long canines.
• The cat drags a kill to a preferred spot, covers it with brush, and returns to feed over a period of days.  These cats are very elusive, and stay well hidden and silent even when on the run, which is where they get one of their other names, “ghost cat.”

Skipper and Gilligan
These boys are Canadian lynx, rescued from a terrible private owner in Kansas who abandoned them.

• The lynx is the larger cousin to the bobcat.
• This species lives in Canada and the far northern U.S.
• Canadian lynx are specialized for hunting in the snow, as they have large paws with thick fur covering them, which act as snowshoes and allow the cat to remain on top of the snow while running.
• This cat relies almost entirely on the snowshoe hare. The snowshoe hare population peaks every 10 years, and with it, so does the lynx population. When the hare population decreases, so does the lynx population. While lynx will change their prey base when hares are low to include small rodents, ground birds, and small ungulates, the overall lynx population is still synchronous with the hare population.

Thurston and Lovey
These two bobcats came from the same place in Kansas as Gilligan and Skipper.  They were found living in tiny cages in piles of their own feces.

• Bobcats live in every state in the US, including Florida. 
• They primarily eat rabbits, but will also hunt rodents, bats, beaver, squirrels, and even large prey like deer, which are about 6 times the size of a bobcat.
• Bobcat teeth, like all big cat teeth, are specialized for catching and killing prey.
• Bobcat canines are about 2 inches long, very sharp, and capable of inflicting serious puncture wounds.
• In size, shape and number, they are similar to your house cat’s teeth.
• The bobcat hunts by stealth, but delivers a deathblow with a leaping pounce that can cover 10 feet.
• They are fierce and feisty little cats.

Ginger
Ginger is a normal-colored serval, and also came from the same Kansas rescue as the previous cats.

• The golden coloration with spots and stripes helps with camouflage in the African savannah.
• Although the serval is specialized for catching rodents, it is an opportunistic predator whose diet also includes birds, hares, hyraxes, reptiles, insects, fish, and frogs.
• The serval has been observed taking larger animals, such as deer, gazelle, and springbok, though over 90% of the serval’s prey weighs less than 7 oz.
• The serval eats very quickly, sometimes too quickly, causing it to gag and regurgitate due to clogging in the throat.
• Small prey is devoured whole.
• The serval utilizes an effective plucking technique in which they repeatedly toss captured birds in the air while simultaneously thrashing their head from side-to-side, removing mouthfuls of feathers, which they discard.
• Servals have a kill rate of 50%, making them the second-best cat hunter in the world. The only cat with a better kill rate is the house cat, which is at 80-90%.

Nikita Tiger
Nikita came to BCR from a pay to play scheme, in which guests were allowed to enter his cage and sit on him or touch him and have their picture taken. To make him more docile, his owner chained him to the ground and removed his claws and canine teeth.

• Tigers have the longest canines of any cat, at 4-5 inches long. Those allow them to deliver a killing bite to the back of the neck or throat of their prey.
• Cats only have pointy teeth, and they use them as scissors to bite off pieces of meat and swallow it whole.
• They don’t need the flat molars to grind the food into paste like we do.
• The claws are 3 inches long with blades on the inside, and the tiger uses these as hooks when they wrap their arms around the neck of their prey, sink in the claws and teeth, and bring it down to the ground.  Tigers can reach 40 miles an hour at a run.
• They are some of the largest and deadliest predators in the world.
• Tigers have 1,000 lbs of pressure per square inch in their jaw (humans have about 100), and in the wild can kill prey as large as a water buffalo with a bite to the back of the neck.
• Their favorite prey in the wild is several types of deer and wild pig, but they are opportunistic and will eat birds, reptiles, and other mammals as well.
• Tigers are also gorge eaters, and can eat up to 90 lb. in a sitting.
• One tiger has the strength of 13 men.
• Tigers love water and will swim up to 20 miles a day in the wild. They are strong enough swimmers to cross fast rivers.
• They will often leave the gallbladder of the rabbit. This is because the gallbladder stores bile, and probably has an awful taste and texture.