Carnivores

Cheetah

The planet’s fastest land animal is built for super speed, rather than stamina. A cheetah chase usually only lasts a minute and covers about 300 metres. At full speed, cheetah take three strides a second, covering seven metres per stride with the long tail acting as a rudder. A highly flexible spine allows their body to twist and turn with ease even at high speed.  Their prey usually consists of smaller antelope and mammals but on occasion they will even catch ostrich. One tenth of their prey is stolen by lions or hyenas so they hunt during the day to reduce this impact. The distinctive black ‘tear marks’ running from its eyes are thought to help reflect the glare of the sun.

Cheetahs communicate in many ways. Some of these are through vocalizations such as purrs, bleats, barks, growls, hisses, and a high-pitched chirping sound. Another way they communicate is through scent marking and males will mark their territory by spraying urine or by cheek and chin rubbing against a tree trunk or bush. In the last 100 years, the world has lost 90% of the wild cheetah population, cheetah are now found in just 9% of their historic range with the global population is estimated at less than 8,000. The Asian cheetah population now numbers just 50 or so animals, in one isolated pocked of Iran. A reintroduction programme was initiated in India in 2022.

Cheetah kill prey daily and on private land this puts in them in conflict with stock farmers.  In addition, the loss of open grasslands in Africa to thick bush due to a lack of regular fire has greatly reduced their natural habitat. The key focus is on protecting remaining wild populations through:

• Educating rural communities and farmers.
• Capture and translocation of problem animals.
• Guard dog programmes in which dogs are raised and live amongst livestock and protect them from cheetah and other predators.

Guard dog programmes have extended to several countries and conservation programmes and areas including little blue penguins being protected from cats and foxes in Victoria. Guard dogs are often not accompanied by a shepherd with all responsibility for the flock delegated to the dog. Similarly, donkeys are used to guard cattle calves from leopards.

Our Cheetahs are part of the regional zoological breeding programme. They are also a part of a global studbook held to assist manage the genetics of the global captive population. Zoos globally provide significant funding and resources for cheetah conservation programmes.

Red Panda

Red pandas, like giant pandas, are bamboo eater’s native to Asia’s high forests. Despite these similarities and their shared name, the two species are not closely related. Red pandas are much smaller than giant pandas and are the only living member of their taxonomic family.  Genetic studies show that red pandas are an ancient species amongst the carnivores and are probably most closely related to the group that includes skunks, raccoons and weasels.

Red pandas can be easily identified by their unique red coat colour, which acts like camouflage within the canopy of fir trees where branches are covered with clumps of reddish-brown moss and white lichens. Red pandas live in high-altitude, temperate forests with bamboo understories in the Himalayas and other high mountains including mountains in Burma and parts of China.

Red Panda populations have decreased by half in recent years, and they are now classified as endangered. Zoos internationally have formed a global species breeding programme for the species and our red pandas belong to this breeding programme. As with many species half of all red pandas born are males but only one individual male is required to breed and ensure their genetics are represented in the global population. To enable this some zoos must agree to hold excess males only and this is the role we play in the breeding programme.

Our red pandas play a valuable role as ambassadors for their species and during the ever-popular encounters our visitors learn a lot more about red pandas and hopefully fall in love with them and wildlife generally.

The Red Panda Network is committed to the conservation of wild red pandas and their habitat through the education and empowerment of local communities in Nepal and are funded by international agencies including the zoo network.

Serval

Servals are found throughout the African savannah. They have large ears and an acute sense of hearing which is used to pinpoint prey, even when lurking in long grass. Their long legs allow them to pounce and jump when hunting. They are carnivorous; their diet includes rodents, birds, reptiles, frogs and insects. Servals are solitary animals that communicate primarily through urine spraying and rubbing saliva on objects around them and they also use vocalizations such as shrill cries, growls, and purring. Their enemies include large carnivores such as lions and hyena that will kill adult and young serval if they come into contact. In Africa some tribes use dogs to hunt small game and serval are often an unfortunate by-catch of these hunts. Our serval are part of the regional zoo breeding program for the species.

Tasmanian Devils

The Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisi is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The name Sarcophilus means “Flesh-lover”. It was formerly present across mainland Australia but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil’s large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion.

Tasmanian devils are threatened by Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) is the name given to a fatal condition in Tasmanian devils which is characterised by the appearance of obvious facial tumours.  The tumours are first noticed in and around the mouth as small lesions or lumps. These develop into large tumours around the face and neck and sometimes even in other parts of the body. Badly affected devils have many tumours throughout the body.

The captive breeding programme consists of animals that have been tested not to carry the virus and consists of approximately 600 animals spread across a variety of captive institutions on the mainland and in Tasmania. Some organisations have created large camps in which devils have been released and are thriving. Captive bred animals have also been released onto offshore islands such as Maria where post release, the population has thrived.

Small-clawed Otters

The Asian small-clawed otter, also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its webbed digits. They live in riverine habitats, freshwater wetlands and mangrove swamps where the feeds on molluscs, crabs and other small aquatic animals. They live in pairs but also in family groups with up to 12 individuals and are highly vocal with high pitched squeals and whistles they are constantly in contact with others in their group and in the zoo with their keeper who they recognise. When swimming on the surface, otters’ row with the forelimbs and paddle with the hind limbs. When diving under water, they undulate their bodies and tails and swim fast enough to catch fish. Between one and seven pups are born in a litter and kept in a burrow, lined with vegetation for over two and half months. Listed as vulnerable they are impacted by habitat loss, hunting for the fur trade and the illegal pet trade.

Meerkat

Related to the mongoose family they live in semi-desert habitats and can number up to 30 in a mob, usually it’s a dozen or so. Communication is key while foraging for insects, reptiles and fruits, they constantly “talk” to each other with a dozen or so different sounds used to share information on food and safety matters. A sentry is always on duty, perched high and warns the mob of any danger. They live up to ten years and are mature at two years at which stage young females are often pushed out of the group by the dominant matriarch and move on to form their own group. Their gestation is two and a half months and they give birth to litters of two to six young, borne blind and which spend their first few weeks in the burrow before venturing out where they are always looked after by one of the mob. Natural predators include eagles, snakes and small wild cats.

Tiger Quoll

There are four species of quolls. The largest species, also known as tiger quolls, the spotted-tailed quoll is the second largest carnivorous marsupial on the Australia mainland after Tasmanian devils. They live in a variety of habitats, are mainly solitary animals and will make their dens in rock shelters, small caves, hollow logs, and tree hollows and feed on prey such as possums, bandicoots, rabbits, birds, and reptiles.

Quolls have a fascinating breeding cycle – The female calls or “clucks” when she is in oestrus (season) and her neck swells. After a gestation period of 3 weeks, she will give birth to up to thirty young. When spotted-tailed quolls give birth, their offspring are about the size of a grain of rice and up the fur on the mother’s belly and into the pouch where they attach on to a teat. With only 6-7 teats available only that number of young can survive. The mother carries her joeys in her pouch until about 2 ½ months of age at which point, they are left in a nest in the den. The young are then weaned and are independent at 5 months and mature by one year of age. They are short lived with a life expectancy of only up to five years. The joeys grow to about 2 kg for females and 4 kg for males, by the time they reach adulthood.

The spotted-tailed quoll population is seriously threatened throughout mainland Australia. Listed as endangered on the mainland, the introduction of feral animals such as foxes, cats, and dogs, as well as diseases and the logging of their forest habitats, have greatly reduced their numbers. Historic logging of forests and the threat of global warming has for the first time seen many previously very wet forests drying with some even burning.

Several new forest reserves and linkages have been created where the species has been recorded. Feral animals, in particular fox and cat control measures, are being implemented in key habitats. To avoid conflict with people tips on how to “quoll proof” hen houses has been made available. Camera traps and trained scat/scent dogs are being used to detect and monitor populations.

A captive breeding insurance population is managed in Australian wildlife parks and zoos such as ours. Genetics are tightly managed and being relatively short-lived, animals are moved between organisations for breeding on a regular basis.

Our Zoo is one of the top breeding facilities for this species with over forty bred over a twelve-year period.