18 Week Old Ocelots Getting A Health Check And Will Soon Be Displayed At Woodland Park Zoo

 By Gigi Allianic

Seattle, WA - Woodland Park Zoo Animal Health staff will administer an 18-week physical examination on a pair of female ocelot kittens. The examination, a part of the zoo’s excellent animal care and preventive health program, will include weights and measurements, blood collection and the prescribed set of vaccinations.

The kittens, named Novia and Corisandra, were born at the zoo on September 23, 2008. They mark the first offspring for mother Bella, 7 years old, and father Brazil, 12 years old. Corisandra currently weighs 5¾ pounds and Novia, 4½ pounds.

The zoo hopes to have the kittens on public exhibit in the next couple of weeks. Behind-the-scenes photos and video of the kittens are posted on the zoo’s blog at www.zoo.org under “What’s new @ the Zoo” and on YouTube.

The mother and kittens have remained off public exhibit to allow for continued nursing and bonding in a quiet environment. Over the past couple of months, the kittens have increasingly spent more time outside of the birthing den. In preparation for the kittens’ move to the public exhibit, zookeepers have helped promote the necessary motor and exploratory skills for proper growth and development through off-exhibit climbing structures and a variety of enrichment activities. The father is currently on view in the award-winning Tropical Rain Forest.

Ocelots are an endangered species. The small spotted cats range throughout Mexico, Central and South America to northern Argentina, with remnant populations in the southwestern United States. The secretive, nocturnal cats are three to four times the size of an average domestic house cat, weighing on average 24-35 pounds and averaging 2½-5 feet in length. They may be found in several different kinds of habitats, from jungle areas and tropical rain forests to dry scrub and chaparral zones. Ocelots continue to lose ground with their ever-shrinking habitat and black market pet trade. Today, only about 100 are thought to remain in the U.S.

Woodland Park Zoo participates in the Ocelot Species Survival Plan (SSP), a cooperative breeding program that works to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums. The kittens’ future role as animal conservation ambassadors will help educate our visitors about the importance of saving these rare cats.

The Ocelot SSP is among 39 Species Survival Plans that Woodland Park Zoo participates in, including the western lowland gorilla, Humboldt penguin, Komodo dragon and red panda. Under the auspices of AZA, SSPs also involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects.

Winter hours: 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. daily. Winter admission: Adult (13-64) $11.00; Child (3-12) $8.00; Toddler (0-2) free. Seniors (65+) and people with disabilities receive a discount and zoo members receive free zoo admission year round. Parking: $4.50. Beginning February 1: $5.

For more information or to become a zoo member, call 206.548.2500 or 206.548.2599 (TTY), or visit the zoo’s website at www.zoo.org.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting international standards for zoos all over the world. Conservation, education and excellent animal care are at the core of the zoo’s mission. The zoo helps save animals and their habitats in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring people to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo makes a difference in our planet’s future.

Photo credit: Ryan Hawk