Offspring of the European wildcats
The five cubs were born in the game enclosure
There are offspring in the wildlife enclosure at Chemnitz Zoo: on 1 April - no joke - five wild cats were born. It is the third litter of the breeding pair that has been living in the new enclosure since 2019.
After a gestation period of around nine weeks, three to five kittens are usually born. This takes place in a safe hiding place, as the kittens are blind as nestlings for around nine days. In the first few weeks, there is little chance of spotting the young outside the whelping box. The main activity period of wildcats only begins after sunset. In the meantime, however, with a bit of luck, the kittens can be seen in the outdoor enclosure.
The European wildcat is not the ancestral form of our domestic cats. They are originally descended from the African wildcat (the hawkcat). European wildcats are larger than domestic cats. A wild cat (male) can weigh up to eight kilograms. Another distinguishing feature is the bushy tail, about 30 centimetres long, which has three distinct black rings and ends in a blunt black tip.
www.tierpark-chemnitz.de
Opening hours
Zoo 9 am to 7 pm, last admission 6 pm
Game enclosure 8 am to 6 pm, last admission 5 pm