Guest guest Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20051225TDY03005.htm[image: Main] Govt calls on zoos to save rare wildcat The Yomiuri Shimbun The Environment Ministry is looking for zoos that can help in a project to breed Tsushima-yamaneko, a wildcat indigenous to Tsushima island in Nagasaki Prefecture. The government has designated the cats an endangered species. Fukuoka Municipal Zoo, which introduced an artificial reproduction program in 2000 to breed the wildcats, was unable to house all of the animals that resulted. There are believed to be between 80 and 110 Tsushima-yamaneko living wild on the island. Twenty-eight cats were born during the course of the Fukuoka zoo's artificial reproduction program, though 11 of them died. Some of the cats were transferred to a protection center on the island, and 14 of them were kept at the zoo. However, the zoo has reached the limit of its housing capacity. The ministry has asked zoos across the country to cooperate in the protection of the species in the hope of increasing the number of captive wildcats to 100 before releasing them into the wild. The ministry has asked participating zoos to keep the wildcats away from people, so they do not become tame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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