Peaches the Serval

Peaches Serval DOB 4/18/94 arrived 6/27/1997

 

Peaches will be moving to the tour path soon, so I thought she would be a good one for you to get to know.

 

Peaches the serval was from a facility in OK called Oakhill Wildlife Center.  It was owned by John Aynes who bred exotic cats for accredited zoos, roadside zoos and private collectors.  Most of the Pallas Cats, Clouded Leopards and many of the Cheetahs that are in zoos and private hands are there because of this prolific breeder.  Our Pallas Cats came from there when they had contracted an illness that would have spread quickly through John's facility because of his tight quarters and shared walls.

 

Peaches was used as a breeder and came to us when she was no longer needed for that purpose.  With limited space for the big money makers, like the other cats mentioned above and red pandas and other endangered wildlife he bred, the servals were discarded.  Others from there that came at the same time were Alphie Serval and Daisy Serval.

 

John dropped off the radar about 6 years ago and emailed me just the other day.  He was building an aviary for a few birds and wanted to know where we get our hog rings.  He said that he had pretty much moved to London and didn't have time for the cats.  He said he had sent them all to zoos and only had a few birds for the past 5 or 6 years.  His voice seemed full of regret, and I can only hope that it was for all of the breeding he did in the 1990's that has resulted in so many of these cats living generation after generation in cages.

 

This was actually written in 2010 to the volunteers, but placed here as it was the day Peaches arrived.  This photo is me holding Little Feather Bobcat around that same time era.