Dartmoor Zoo welcomes 'world's rarest big cat'

An Amur leopard - "the world's rarest big cat" - is slinking around his new enclosure after arriving at Dartmoor Zoo.

Freddo is adept at climbing walls and springing between trees so his new home has been made secure, bosses said.

The zoo said they had also registered the nine-year-old on an "animal dating site" to find him a mate.

Benjamin Mee, chief executive officer at Dartmoor Zoological Society, described Freddo as "beautiful".

He said: "I first clapped eyes on him seven years ago at Highland Wildlife Park when he was still a youngster and that's how long it's been in planning to get him here."

There are thought to be just 140 Amur leopards left in the wild and 300 in European zoos, the society said.

Freddo was raised in the wild before his time in captivity but he is now part of a breeding programme aimed at reintroducing the endangered species into its native Siberia, Mr Mee said.

"This is the world's rarest big cat which is why the re-introduction is so important," he added.

Freddo has been placed on the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), dubbed an "animal dating site" by Mr Mee.

The system helps match up endangered animals for breeding.

"You have to go through the stud book for animals as rare and endangered," Mr Mee added.

"All my efforts in the next few years will be finding a female and seeing if the offspring can be put back into the wild."

Dartmoor Zoo is now fundraising to create a separate and "monumentally-expensive" enclosure for a female leopard.

Freddo will be fed meat including rabbits and Dartmoor ponies as part of a landowners' "management programme".

Although Freddo, who was born in Estonia, bears some resemblance to an African leopard, Mr Mee said he is a "little taller with longer legs and a shaggier face".

He added: "Leopards are very strong and very adaptable cats because they are not top of the food chain.

"In every ecosystem where there are leopards there is always a tiger or a bear or something else above them which means they have got to be on their toes the whole time.

"They can run straight up a sheer wall or climb trees so we've had to put plastic sheaths on them."

Freddo has joined the zoo's big cat collection, which includes lions, tigers, a jaguar and a lynx.

His new home features cherry trees and Siberian larches, provided by sister charity Growth 4 Good.

Mr Mee said the big cat, which has lived at four zoos previously, had settled into his new home relatively quickly, with an expert on hand looking out for signs of stress."

"He came out of his crate cautiously with his ears back, wandered around, had a sniff and then his ears came forward and he jumped on to the platform," he added.

"It's a real milestone for us, now we have every kind of big cat.

"He's genuinely at the forefront of one of the world's best conservation programmes and we are part of that."

Freddo's enclosure will be open for public viewing on 26 November.

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