See Sara on Animal Planet's "Growing Up Clouded
Leopard".
Our favorite lynx are our 8 year old Siberian Lynx, Boris and Natasha.
They have have been a part of the Bratcher family since
they were 5 days old. Boris and Natasha were born at the Nashville Zoo in
Nashville, Tennessee. They were pulled from their mother, Ginger, to be used in
educational outreach programs from the zoo. They needed to be hand-raised and
very accustomed to people in order to use them. For information on raising
exotic cats and careers associated with exotic animals go to Sara's Zoo Keeper Page.
They weighed about a pound each and made their public debut at a Zoo Picnic at 3
weeks old. Of course, most of their "appearance" was sleeping in their playpen,
but they became a big hit with the zoo patrons. In the year that followed, Boris
and Natasha became well-known through numerous outings benefiting the zoo and
educating people about animals from all over the world. They learned to walk
with a collar and lease, and always did very well. At times, there would be
several hundred people coming by and crowding to see them. In order to prevent
injuries to either keeper or spectator, Boris and Natasha would always have
their claws trimmed before going out. They were so used to it, they would lie
down on my lap and let me trim the claws down. They made appearances on Good
Morning, America and Prime Time Country (on TNN) with Jack Hanna. Natasha really
liked the penquin that Jack brought on stage before her and would not walk on to
the stage until the penquin was crated up.
As Boris and Natasha grew, it became more difficult to take them both and have
only one person (me) handle both large cats. A lot of times we would take only
one and the other one would cry and pace in their cage until they were together
again. That told us we should not ever separate them if possible. In order to
keep them together as they matured, the decision was made to neuter Boris. Even
though they were brother and sister, they would have bred when Natasha came into
estrus. Boris was neutered when he was a year old. After a few months, they were
used by the zoo less and less. The zoo no longer needed them for education or
for exhibit. Other zoos did not want them both and we really wanted to keep them
together. We had Boris and Natasha at our house (either inside or in a large
cage outside) about 90% of the time since their birth, so it seemed only natural
to us to want to make them a part of our family. After working out an
arrangement with the zoo, they came to live with us permanently. They still are
good cats.
Boris weighs about 75 pounds and is a big baby. I credit this to his being
neutered. He loves to butt your head and will rub all over you. Not too bad
except in the spring and summer when he's shedding. Natasha is a lot smaller at
about 45 pounds. She gets a little shy at times and will act like she wants to
be left alone. If you sit and talk to her, she'll eventually come over and want
some attention. Even though Boris is so much larger, Natasha rules the pen. If
he gets in her way, she'll growl at him and he knows to move away. The cats are
fed each evening around 6:00. The mainstay of their diet is raw chicken, usually
leg quarters, but they also get raw beef about once a week. Mike feels like they
eat better than we do and will always wonder who the beef is for when I buy a
roast at the store. They also occasionally get a rabbit or rats (already killed
- received from the breeder frozen - thawed before feeding). Rabbits are their
favorite food and they will play with it for some time (pretending to kill it)
before they eat. During the winter, they also sometimes get deer meat given to
us by hunters.
When Natasha was two years old she was operated on for a
defect in her left shoulder socket. She was a good patient and did very little
complaining. Her favorite place to sleep was on our bed where she slept with us
all nght long. Here are a couple of pictures of her on our bed.
Natasha in bed with Mike.
Natasha on our bed.
We accept all
major credit cards and your transaction is secure! For great prices on
wildlife/reference books, novelty sewing buttons and patches and other
items visit us at BORIS AND NATASHA'S STORE!
Just take a minute to check them out.
Here are some more pictures of Boris and Natasha.
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Petition to Stop
Killing Lynxes in Norway The Government of Norway (Directory for Wildlife
Resources and Ministry of the Environment) has approved of hunting down and
killing140 individuals of the Eurasian Lynx in February / March 1997.This is
about 25% of an estimated total number of ~500-600 animals in the whole country,
and 36 more than under last years hunt. Scientific research indicates that if
the natural population of lynxes in an area is reduced by about 20%, the result
may be that the lynx becomes extinct in this area. Join the On-line Petition to
STOP killing lynxes in Norway by clicking on the World Lynx logo.
