CURE FOR CAT CURIOSITY; BREEDING FACILITY HOLDING TWILIGHT TOUR.Byline: Daily News Big cats like tigers, leopards and jaguars, plus lesser known felines like fishing cats and jaguarundi jaguarundi a small, 3 ft long, American wild cat, slender, otter-like, gray or red. Called also Panthera jaguarundi. , will be on display at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound's Summer Twilight Tour fund-raiser. The nonprofit center, dedicated to the breeding of exotic feline species, is open to the public for escorted tours Escorted tours are a form of tourism in which travelers are escorted in a group to various destinations, verses a self-guided tour where the tourist is on their own. Escorted tours are normally conducted by a tour director who takes care of all services from the beginning to end , but the Twilight Tour takes place after regular hours when the cats are rousing for their nighttime activity. ``It's a better time of the day when they're more active. Cats are basically nocturnal,'' said Jo Ann Glass, an administrative assistant. ``It's more like an open house than a tour per se. People can stroll around the compound, bring their cameras, their video cameras, their sketch pads. We have volunteers who can answer any questions.'' The Summer Twilight Tour will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 21 at the compound, which lies north of Rosamond Boulevard off Mojave-Tropico Road, about 3 -1/4 miles west of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. . Twilight Tour costs $15 per person, and is limited to visitors 18 and older. Reservations can be made by calling (805) 256-3793. Proceeds from this year's fund-raisers will go toward expanding the center to accommodate more animals. Several zoos with cats to breed are waiting for the center to add cage space, Glass said. Dedicated to the protection and preservation of endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. , the center was founded in 1977 as a private wild feline breeding and reproductive research facility. It opened to the public in 1983. The center offers close views of magnificent rare cats and natural habitat exhibits. It houses more than 60 wild cats from 15 subspecies subspecies, also called race, a genetically distinct geographical subunit of a species. See also classification. . They range from the small Gordon's wildcat to the larger specimens such as leopards, jaguars and tigers. ``The whole goal of this place is to establish viable gene pools in captivity,'' Glass said. The center is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Wednesdays, for escorted tours that begin every half-hour. There is no admission charge. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--color in AV edition only) A clouded leopard clouded leopard see clouded leopard. named Hobbes lounges in the warm sun at the feline breeding compound, which is open daily except Wednesdays. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News (2--color in AV only) A group of elementary school elementary school: see school. students tours the grounds and sees wild cats up close. |
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