Most of the manuls in captivity are the subspecies ‘otocolobus manul manul’ with the ones in China, like Dunzi, being ‘otocolobus manul nigiripectus’. There is also the third subspecies which is not fully recognised (?, I’m not too sure?) which is the ‘otocolobus manul ferrugineus’ which are the orange/ginger manuls I have sometimes seen pictures of.
I was wondering if there are any of the third type anywhere in captivity or if they have only been seen in the wild so far. I think they’re mostly in areas like Iran and surrounding areas but I would love to see one… they look so different…
I had a discussion about this with a chief zoologist of mammal department of the Prague zoo this year when I was there filming Princessa and Spay. I asked him about how they treat subspecies in Europe. He told me that right now all manuls in captivity (EU, US, Japan, Russia, etc) are treated as otocolobus manul manul with no exceptions (even Bol).
I asked about manul in China and he told me that he doesn’t know because China is not participating in European conservation program (EEP). So they don’t think about because they don’t exchange animals.
On the other hand I hear a couple of times that Chinese zoos don’t want to get manuls from Russia because they don’t want to mix their manul lines with manul manul line. But those talking weren’t from zoologists in zoos so we shouldn’t rely on it much.
I see… That is very interesting… thank you for the information. I think it would be nice to see a more distinct difference between the two types… maybe one day we’ll see some orange manuls.
I’d love to hear more opinions on that and if I have a chance I’ll ask about it
I’d love to hear about the possibility of zoos keeping/aiding in the conservation of orange manuls! I’ve made a very short research and compiled a few facts about them a couple of years ago, because I found them fascinating.
They’re still a rather rare sight in their original habitats, but I’ve heard the ferruginea have stopped being considered a subspecies since then, and are considered a color variation nowadays instead, so my knowledge is no longer up to date! I’m not sure if they’re considered O. manul manul or O. manul nigripectus…
This is very cute… And interesting… I hope that they can conserve these guys in some way. I think they are considered O. manul manul going by the wiki page but I could be wrong… I do think they should still be separate though but there is probably a lot more that goes into it than looks.
Indeed, I think they’ve probably adapted more than just their colors to suit a desertic environment, so they probably couldn’t be kept on the same kind of enclosure as their gray cousins. That also probably means a lot of research for zookeepers! Still, here’s hoping we’ll get to see orange manuls added to international conservation efforts and that we’ll get to see them safely cared for in zoos someday!
I asked Iranian researchers who study manuls in Iran about if they have manuls in zoos in Iran but they told me that they don’t have manuls in zoos.
Aw, what a pity… It’s probably because they’re so elusive. Thanks for the confirmation though!!
What differentiates otocolobus manul nigiripectus from otocolobus manul manul?
wow! this is awesome, thank you! i love cats in general so this is cool to have.
Nebelbergen, you have so much information about manul science and past manuls in zoos, I’m in awe! You’re my hero Please keep telling us any facts or zoo information you find!
Манулы в Чюшюйском зоопарке.
LaDi & KuoHao точно nigiripectus.
А вот насчёт UU & FangFang у меня сомнения. Может гибриды?
DShuyu | This year, we have 4 new Manul friends👋 Now, you can see Manuls at the Jingtu Animal Protection Zoo in Tibet, China.