Highland Zoo Welcomes Litter Of Six Pallas’s Kittens

Recently at a Scottish Zoo, there were six rare kittens that were born whose first steps outside the nest box were caught by hidden cameras.

The baby Pallas’s cats look a little like Persian cats however they are more suited to the mountainous parts of central Asia.

Highland Wildlife Park’s new additions are just under three months old. Though handlers have still not been able to capture up close images of the new offspring, cameras positioned both inside and outside of the nest box have captures images of the kitten’s playing and exploring their home.

This breed of cat is actually quite mysterious in the wild and are notoriously difficult to breed in capacity because the kittens tend to be prone to toxoplasmosis which is parasitic disease that is often fatal.

In their efforts to protect the new litter from becoming sick, keepers at Highland Wildlife Park set up cameras and sound recorders to learn exactly when the kittens parents were mating.

“Monitoring the vocalizations of the cats helped us to identify when mating had taken place and this is the key time that a prevention treatment for toxoplasmosis needs to begin, in the early days of a potential pregnancy. Unlike other treatment programs that can be very intensive and stressful to the cats, our work here has allowed us to implement our veterinary protocol in a completely stress free environment,” David Barclay, senior keeper for the Highland Wildlife Park, said.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists the Pallas’s cat as very nearly threatened. This is because they felines are threatened by loss of habitat and hunted by poachers who target them for their fur as well as fat and organs for traditional medicines.