UK's last captive black leopard dies at Exmoor Zoo

[CountAllVotes]

The last captive black leopard in the UK has died of natural causes at Exmoor Zoo in north Devon.

Zoysa, a rare melanistic leopard, died on his 18th birthday on 18 October after several weeks in palliative care.

He was born in 2004 and spent his early years at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-63329317?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom3=%40BBCWorld&at_campaign=64&at_custom4=4CBDFA86-5085-11ED-97D8-2EBB923C408C&at_custom2=twitter&at_medium=custom7

[secondwind]

1. This saddens me. He spent his whole life in a cage.

[efhmc]

2. No inof on the site about number not in the wild..

[efhmc]

4. Black leopards and threat.

Asian subspecies, in which the melanistic mutation is the most common, are the most endangered of all leopards. Humans are the black leopard's primary threat.

[Karadeniz]

3. Actually, at least as far as domestic cats go, captivity is pretty well acceptable. Domestic and

wild cats are very similar. I have one cat who was so nervous when out and about, she licked the fur off her stomach. She was put on a $100/bag for stress, so I fed her in a cage, but let her out otherwise. Her bald tummy didn't improve. When my schedule got eaten up with doctors, I threw in the towel on shuffling her around and kept her in her cage, promising it would be temporary. She was so happy, I didn't worry. It's been about two months and her fur has grown back!! Another cat was the most finicky eater who ever lived. Small anyway, in adulthood she looks like a six month old. She decided she'd deign to eat the stress food, so she went into a cage at mealtimes. And turned into a furry sausage. When I ran out of time, I quit the cage feeding and hoped that now that she was used to eating, she'd eat their food with them. Well, the two times per day I fed, she'd run to her cage, wanting indoor dining. It took her over two months to resign herself to not eating in her cage. So, I don't think it's the end of any cat's happiness to endure captivity and this panther's longevity suggests that he was happy with his habitat.