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Leopard may have to change its spot
Published: 10 February, 2010, 09:59
Edited: 21 May, 2010, 23:05
TAGS: Animals, Scandal, Russia, Protest
A rare tamed Russian leopard is about to lose its home. Not only should it not be kept as a pet, environmentalists say, but the houses in the village where the leopard lives are claimed to have been built illegally.
Cleopatra’s family is among 400 others accused of building their houses illegally on a Moscow riverbank. The war between the authorities and local residents now threatens the cat's life more than any hunter's rifle.
First the animal was given as a present. Next it was abandoned in the woods, where it was hunted. Then, when the feline finally found a safe new home, that home now has to be demolished.
Its owner, Sergey Bobyshev, says he found the cat in the woods and nursed it back to health.
“Nobody wanted to take the animal then,” Sergey recalls. “All organizations and zoos turned their backs. Well if you don’t need her – I’ll take her! I love animals. I have several cats and I feed strays.”
Neighbors, human as well as strays, got used to the spotted resident and appreciate that she is also there to the bitter end in the fight to save their homes.
But environmentalists claim Cleopatra is an endangered Far-East leopard and should be moved to a national reserve. Especially now that she is due to become homeless anyway.
Rinat Gigatulin from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry claims that in fact the leopard was given as gift.
“From unofficial sources we know that the leopard was given to its current owner as a present by a friend,” Gigatulin told RT. “The friend is a Far-East customs officer who seized the cat when it was a cub. We have promised not to prosecute the current owner for taking hold of an endangered species, provided he gives the animal away.”
But the family is fighting to keep hold of their beloved cat. They argue it is not a Far East leopard and that authorities are only interested now because she has reached breeding age. They fear Cleopatra simply will not survive away from home.
"Once we went on vacation and left the leopard with our friends,” Bobyshev states. “She didn't eat anything for a week. She was skin and bones when we came back. She started to eat only at home. It will always be like this.”
The family says they cannot face two big losses at once. And even if a house can be rebuilt somewhere else, nothing can replace Cleopatra. The family feels they are being torn apart.
"They’re burying us alive! They act like fascists! Even worse than fascists! I only hope that the government will respond to our grief!" Galina Sharlaimova, Sergey’s mother-in-law, says.
Such has been the attention to the case that even the president has become involved. But even if the media frenzy manages to save the Bobyshevs's house, it seems it has had the opposite affect on the leopard, and the cage, together with its inhabitant, will have to go.
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@Kihnu Obviously you are not one that knows much about animals or you wouldn't say that. NO animal is ever truly tamed. All house cats are for lack of a better word "untamed" even house cats. The taming of an animal is all determined by the owner and the willingness of the animal it's self. So in that case i demand that you give all of your pets away or release them. I bet if some person came to your house and destroyed it and then tried to take all your animals away you'd be singing a different tune. I understand where you are coming from it makes sense, but an animal taken care of from birth being released into the wild does not do well. And an animal refuge would not actually take the animal in because she is at the point of being able to breed which mean that it would be released. You have to look at it from different point and not just some ignorant environmentalist point of view. Just think about it. And before you question how i would know, I am an animal behaviorist.
A leopard can not change its predatory nature any more than it can change its spots. This must be the same leopard who was featured in a recent RT video clip with her head sticking out a car window as the driver sped down a Moscow street. I doubt that any wild cat can be tamed. A leopard, or a lion, etc, is genetically wired to be a carnivorous predator, and can react as such at any moment, and turn on her owner's family - especially on a young toddler. I recall an incident during a Las Vegas show where a white tiger attacked his owner who had raised him from birth. The tiger almost tore the fellow's throat out. Afterward, there was much discussion about the tiger's behavior. The finally assessment was that a wild cat can leave an appearance of being tamed, but it never is because it is not in the nature of a wild cat to be tame. The best fate for this leopard is to be taken to a good zoo or wild animal refuge.
looks to be a happy home that was meant to be that way along with the happy leopard why so happy meant to be there.