“We can tell she’s going to be feisty,” stated Tammy Walling, animal care supervisor on the zoo’s small animal building and one among Gaia’s keepers.
The black-footed cat’s big-eyed gaze and killer intuition drew her followers from throughout the nation this winter, after she moved into her new exhibit on the Salt Lake City zoo. Her cuteness — as one of many smallest cats in existence — and savagery — as a member of the deadliest-to-prey cat species on Earth — was a profitable mixture for a bit web fame.
She enchanted Washington Post readers, who commented: “Flawless.” “Bruce Lee, Lawrence Taylor, and the looks of Audrey Hepburn.” “THIS is the most adorable wild animal ever!” “Can we get one at the National Zoo to replace the pandas??”
So one month into her residency in Salt Lake City, The Post checked in with Gaia’s keepers to listen to about how she’s settling in — and to get new cat pics.
Gaia is taking part in like a kitten, performing animated when zoo friends go to and getting braver about venturing out of her cave. She was shy when she first reached Utah from the Texas wildlife heart the place she was born — however not anymore.
“She’s definitely developing a personality,” Walling stated in an interview this month.
Black-footed cats don’t reside within the wild within the United States, and habitat loss in Africa has diminished their native numbers. Gaia and about 28 different cats in U.S. establishments are a part of an effort by conservationists to protect and diversify the species, which is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Gaia’s traits and kitten-like measurement assist the general public relate to her — who doesn’t need to be cute however lethal, or need to think about their home cat is? — and assist increase consciousness not solely about her species however about African habitats below menace, her zookeepers stated.
“People really love this cat and are connecting with her, and [it’s] giving them a chance to connect with wildlife as a whole,” Walling stated.
Gaia’s day begins within the early morning, when zoo employees activate the lights within the small animals building. She’s “very disgruntled” when the lights come on, however she all the time will get up and begins participating with the employees, watching as they carry out their morning duties.
Then… it’s mealtime. In addition to a specifically formulated weight loss plan, Gaia will get to eat prey she would discover within the wild: small and enormous rodents, rats and chicks.
“All three of the black-footed cats have seemed to really enjoy any of the prey items that are a little bit larger, that they can kind of rip up,” Walling stated. “She seems to enjoy the chicks.”
The zoo opens at 10 a.m. Gaia typically spends the morning mendacity down on the entrance of her enclosure, saying good day to passersby. She seems to get pleasure from watching zoo guests, Walling stated — and generally stalks them.
“It means she’s settling in and feeling more comfortable,” Walling stated.
When not lazing round or stalking guests, Gaia will get “enrichment” — zookeeper-speak for toys and actions that draw out her wild behaviors and pure instincts. Once every week, she will get her favourite factor — a bone.
“She really enjoys dragging the bone around and getting a little bit of meat off it,” Walling stated.
She additionally occupies herself for lengthy intervals attempting to catch a ball inside a tire, Walling stated. And she hunts for hidden meals — fabricated from an appetizing combination of floor bone, skeletal muscle and organs — and sharpens her claws on scratching posts.
“She’s a kitten, so she really enjoys batting things around,” Walling stated.
Shelly Peterson’s two children, 5 and 9, have been enchanted by Gaia after they visited the zoo on the finish of December.
“We looked in there and saw this little tiny cat,” stated Peterson, of American Fork, Utah. “She was just interested in all the people that were there, and she was just watching us with her big eyes. My kids are like, ‘Ohh, she’s so cute.’”
Gaia was new to her exhibit, which was nonetheless partially coated by curtains, Peterson recalled, however she “perked up and was looking at us” when the household stood by her window.
“She’s so cute,” Peterson stated. “So tiny. Little itty bitty.”
Gaia’s keepers have excessive hopes for her potential as a mom. Her function within the species’ conservation will probably be to mate with Ryder, the zoo’s 3-year-old male black-footed cat.
Gaia already reminds zookeepers of her grandmother, Sanura, who lived on the zoo till her loss of life final 12 months at 18. She has grow to be braver every week and may be very animated, stated Bob Cisneros, Hogle Zoo’s affiliate director of animal care.
“I love that even as a young cat, she’s already developing a personality that we’re seeing,” Walling stated. “It’s giving us a glimmer of things that we’re hoping to see [from her] as a parent. We’re hoping she’s going to be a really good mom and carry on that feistiness with the kittens.”
Gaia received’t be launched to Ryder till she’s mature, however zoo employees are already engaged on getting them comfy: They introduce Gaia to Ryder’s scent by placing cardboard in his enclosure, then transferring it to her exhibit.
Next, they may use a standard space at totally different instances; as an example, Ryder will use the room, go away, and Gaia will are available in for “a very strong olfactory introduction,” Cisneros stated. Once Gaia matures, supervisors will begin occupied with introducing the pair, after which they’d spend 45 days collectively in hopes of creating a match.
If that doesn’t work, they’ll begin one other 45-day try.
“Gaia and Ryder are young,” Cisneros stated, “and sometimes it takes them a minute to kind of figure it out.”
Smitten with Gaia? You undoubtedly can’t take her home. But there are methods to assist her species — and others — survive within the wild. And, in truth, motivating folks to care is a part of her goal.
Cisneros really helpful that people who find themselves moved by Gaia grow to be a member of their native zoo, take on a regular basis steps to assist the atmosphere, corresponding to recycling, or donate to a conservation or wildlife organization.
People eager to donate ought to search out “reputable conservation organizations that work directly in Africa supporting the work of local organizations,” stated Arend de Haas, director on the African Conservation Foundation. De Haas really helpful on the lookout for initiatives associated to habitat safety, anti-poaching efforts, group engagement and wildlife analysis and monitoring.
“People are often more motivated to take action when they can relate to a specific species,” de Haas stated, “and understand how their conservation efforts can benefit entire ecosystems.”
Cisneros additionally really helpful lowering consumption, reusing and repurposing merchandise, recycling and refusing to make use of gadgets that is perhaps dangerous for the atmosphere — he received’t use foam cups, as an example — calling it “the cheapest way you can do conservation work.”
Publicizing details about vulnerable species — whereas making it clear that wild animals are usually not pets — is necessary for forwarding conservation efforts, consultants stated. Modern zoos play a scientific function, stated Dan Ashe, president of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the unbiased accreditor of zoos within the United States.
His organization has greater than 300 applications and consortia geared toward serving to species survive, together with the consortium that manages Gaia and her fellow black-footed cats. Programs like these, Ashe stated, have helped protect species that in any other case would have gone extinct.
“We’re constantly trying to get people to understand what’s happening to animals in nature,” Ashe stated, noting that public consciousness campaigns have benefited the welfare of species corresponding to elephants, wolves, tortoises and bats.
“All the storytelling that we can get with the public is helpful, because by and large we as human beings are increasingly disconnected from nature and the impacts of our behaviors on nature.”
