Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

The Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) will improve sustainability of five priority small cat species—the Brazilian ocelot, Pallas' cat, black-footed cat, Arabian sand cat, and fishing cat—that are not currently genetically sustainable within zoos through natural breeding alone. Working in collaboration with small cat program coordinators from zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), CREW will (1) collect and freeze semen from the most valuable cats for each of the five priority small cat species housed in North American zoos, (2) produce viable offspring in each cat population using artificial insemination, and (3) produce viable offspring with frozen-thawed semen from new founders and/or underrepresented males for each species. The completion of this project will greatly enhance long-term sustainability of small cat collections maintained in North American zoos.