Chemnitz Zoo: Offspring of small cat species
The small cats at Chemnitz Zoo have had several offspring.
On 28 April, a kitten was born to the Amur cats. It is the first offspring for the couple, who have lived together in Chemnitz since the end of 2019.
The Amur cat is a subspecies of the Bengal cat and is found in eastern Siberia and northern Mongolia. Due to their origin, Amur cats - in contrast to the subspecies living in southern regions - have a fixed mating season. Most births therefore occur in May. The kittens are born blind, open their eyes after about 14 days and leave their hiding place after just under a month.
Just under a week later - on 6 May - a kitten was also born to the Omani shrews. As a typical nestling, it spent the first few days of its life hidden in the whelping box. However, the cub can now also be spotted in the outdoor enclosure - accompanied by its parents, of course. For the couple, who have been living together since 2018, this is their second offspring since 2019.
This subspecies of wild cat is only rarely seen in zoological institutions. Incidentally, it is not the ancestor of our domestic cat, which is the Libyan hawkcat.