An aviary of a reed cat in Moscow Zoo
Aqua Logo Engineering has designed and built a spacious aviary for the reed cat Zauri at Moscow Zoo. The aviary is located next to the pavilion "Fauna of Russia" and is similar in design to the wolverine aviary we created earlier. It is smaller in size, but also built without a roof to provide natural insolation, enclosed by large glass windows and has a small pond. From above the aviary is covered with a special braided stainless wire netting. This is the first use of such a grid in the Moscow zoo.
Unlike most domestic cats, the reed cat (Felis chaus) is a good swimmer by birth and is adept at catching fish with its clawed paws. During the summer, Zauri's habitat and menu is enriched with live fish, which he can catch in his pond. In nature, reed cats swim more than a kilometer and not just during hunting, but simply for pleasure.
The Moscow Zoo has many members of the feline family, but the reed cat Zauri is alone, and only slightly less famous than the symbol of the Moscow Zoo, the Pallas' cat Timofei.
The reed cat is similar in appearance to the lynx, it is just as slender and muscular. It reaches 90 cm in length and height at withers, and weighs up to 12 kg. Zauri arrived in Moscow as a kitten from a French zoo in 2015. Since then, keepers have been training him every day for half an hour, gaining the wild ward's trust and keeping an eye on his health.
In Russia, only about 500 individuals of the reed cat inhabit the flat part of Dagestan. Further along the coast of the Caspian Sea, the range reaches the mouth of the Volga, along the Terek and Kuma rivers to Stavropol and North Ossetia. The reed cat is included in the Red Book of Russia as a rare and protected species.
Demonstration feedings of the cat Zauri in the Moscow Zoo are held on Tuesdays and Fridays, don't miss it!
Moscow Zoo's reed cat got a new enclosure near the "Fauna of Russia" pavilion
Aviary without a roof, but the cat has shelters from the weather
The aviary is built on a site with living trees, shrubs and a natural change of seasons
Zauri, a beautiful reed cat, is in great physical shape
The cat is accustomed to getting food after touching the keeper's stick with his nose
For the keeper's safety, the feed is always fed with tweezers
The magic wand and the keeper's experience puts Zauri on his hind legs
The food is distributed in different parts of the aviary
Executing the keeper's commands, Zauri walks to the glass fence, paying no attention to the gathered spectators
The cat found a piece of meat hidden in a tree by the keeper
I think I ate all the hidden stuff. But just to be safe, I'll look around
Zauri, a well-fed reed cat, can sit for hours on an elevated position in the far corner of the enclosure, occasionally glancing around
This photo shows how carefully the protective steel mesh mates with the tree trunks in the enclosure area