The Clouded Leopard, (Felis nebulosa).—The dense and humid jungles of Borneo contain a beautiful tree-climbing leopard whose markings are laid on its sides in large, elliptical patches of pleasing pattern. This is the Clouded Leopard, so delicate in captivity that only one out of every four or five becomes acclimatized outside its native jungles. Our fine adult specimen, with very long canine teeth suggestive of those of the saber-toothed tiger, really belongs in the Lion House, but we dare not move it, for fear the change would in some manner prove fatal to it. It is an animal of vicious temper, and makes friends with no one. The half light of its cage is a welcome approach to the dense shadows in which it lives when at home.
OCELOT.
The Jungle Cat, (F. bengalensis), is a small and inconspicuous type, as befits an animal which lives by stealth in densely populated regions. The Ocelot, (Felis pardalis), of South and Central America, is a small spotted cat which very often is called a “young jaguar.” In size it is the third largest Felis of the American continent; but for all that, it is so small that an adult specimen would not make more than one square meal for a hungry jaguar. It is found from southern Texas to southern Brazil.
The little Margay Cat, (F. tigrina), is our smallest and also rarest spotted cat. It is no larger than a good-sized domestic cat, and its tawny ground-color is marked all over with round spots. The rarest American feline in our possession is the queer, otter-like Yaguarundi Cat, (F. yaguarundi), of a uniform gray-brown color, without spots. It is found in southern Texas and Mexico, and is so seldom seen in captivity that comparatively few persons north of the Rio Grande are aware of its existence. Our specimen came from Brownsville, Texas.
COMMON GENET.
The Bay Lynx, Red Lynx, or Wild Cat, (Lynx rufus), is the smallest of American Lynxes, and it is the one that inhabits the United States eastward of the great plains. Until further notice, this species will be found in the Small-Mammal House. It may have a few dark spots, or none at all. Its color varies so greatly that it is at times impossible to determine where this species leaves off, and the more heavily spotted subspecies of the southwest takes its place. The latter is known as the Spotted Lynx, (L. r. maculatus).
The large and important group of Viverrines, or long-faced cat-like carnivores of the East Indies, (Family Viverridae), is well represented. It is the true Civets which furnish—some of them—the evil-smelling civet of commerce—an odor which we would gladly do without. The Common Civet-Cat, (Viverra zibetha), is the best known member of this Family, and it is easily recognized by its large size, heavily-spotted body and ring-streaked tail. It is common throughout the Malay Peninsula, and in many other portions of the Malay Archipelago. The larger Malayan Civet-Cat, (V. malaccensis), strongly resembles its understudy, but its black spots and blotches are larger and more intense, and in form it is much more robust.
The large and handsome White-Whiskered Paradoxure, (Paradoxurus leucomystax), has been in the Park about six years, and to-day it coughs and snarls at the visitor just as it did in the beginning. It is a smooth-coated creature, colored like a puma, and comes from northern China. Other members of the Family Viverridae contained in the collection are the Malayan Paradoxure, (P. hermaphroditus); the Black Paradoxure, (P. niger); the African Ichneumon, (Herpestes ichneumon), the strange black creature from the Malay Peninsula called the Binturong, or “Bear-Cat,” (Arctictis binturong), and the Suricate, or Slender-Tailed Meerkat, (Suricata tetradactyla), of South Africa.