FELINE CENTER COMPLAINS OF INTERFERENCE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

To hear officials at the nation's only known breeding compound for endangered, exotic cats describe it, the felines are not the only ones feeling besieged.

The scourge at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound, or EFBC, is not disease, hunters or encroaching human development, but what center officials say is undue bullying by federal government inspectors.

``The EFBC wants to take a stand. We have been here for 20 years and we know what we are doing with regards to wild cat husbandry,'' Director Joseph Maynard wrote in a recent newsletter from the Feline Conservation Center, which is run by the EFBC. ``This government interference directly violates our constitutional rights and goes beyond reasonable regulation.''

Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture say they are just doing their job, trying to ensure the wild animals are properly housed and adequately fed.

Over the past five years, center officials have wrangled with USDA inspectors who have cited the compound in areas concerning the animals' diet, lighting in the den for the clouded leopards, and odor emanating from fishing cats.

``I don't think any animals will die of malnutrition, but I don't think an inadequate diet is a minor problem either,'' said Wendy Koch, a supervisory animal care specialist with the USDA's Sacramento office. ``It's something that needs to be corrected. I wish we would get more cooperation.''

Based on USDA inspection reports, Maynard said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied the center an import permit to bring a leopard from Lithuania to the compound for breeding.

Now, the center is contemplating legal action to seek relief. The USDA, Maynard contends, lacks the experts to deal with facilities like the center and is overstepping its authority.

Dedicated to the protection and preservation of endangered species, the nonprofit center just west of Rosamond 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 50 wild cats representing more than 15 species. They range from the small Gordon's wildcat to the larger specimens such as leopards, jaguars and tigers.

Koch said inspectors have had some difficulty in pinning down what constitutes the animals' diet, which Koch said is not a commercially prepared diet but one put together by center staff.

The center was asked to submit a written version of the diet after an inspector raised a concern over food in storage, such as chicken necks, which appeared to be inadequate in terms of nutrition, Koch said.

One diet was analyzed by a zoological nutritionist, who found that it was low in Vitamin A and recommended that the center give supplemental vitamins every day, something which Maynard said he will not do, Koch said.

``We're trying to get him (Maynard) to formulate a diet that a nutritionist could find adequate and get him to stick to that diet,'' Koch said. ``He wants the freedom to change the diet however and whenever he wants to.''

Maynard said the center's veterinarians have concluded that the center's diet meets or exceeds the needs of the animals, and that there has never been a diet-related health problem at the center.

``We've been feeding this type of diet for 20 years,'' said Maynard, 56, of Rosamond. ``The animals have no skin problems, they're healthy and producing litters. And they are extremely long-lived. We have set records for longevity.''

Koch acknowledges the diet has not caused any obvious problems.

``If the animals developed signs of poor nutrition, we could start a case against them. It has not happened yet,'' Koch said. ``Whatever problems they might be having are subclinical. They are not showing symptoms or anything you could put your finger on.''

The center and USDA inspectors also have clashed over lighting in the den for the clouded leopards, with the inspectors saying the center was not providing enough light in an enclosed den, and center officials saying there was sufficient exposure to light.

Another area of conflict was odor in the cage for a species called a fishing cat. Koch said USDA inspectors found the odor to be excessive and cited the center for not using a ventilation system to abate the smell.

Center officials said they tried to explain that the odor was inherent to the species and nothing could prevent it, and that frequent cleaning would be disruptive to the female cat.

Maynard said he eventually complied with inspectors' orders to clean the den area daily and run the exhaust fan all day, but since the changes, the female cat has killed three successive litters, totaling eight cubs. The center tried switching back to the original environment, but it didn't matter, Maynard said.

``Once her den area had been altered the damage had been done. She has never felt comfortable since,'' Maynard wrote in the newsletter.

Koch said the cleaning probably did upset the mother and led her to kill, but she said the inspectors never ordered the center to clean the den area daily.

``We simply asked them to provide ventilation,'' Koch said. The ventilation system did not play a role because four months had passed from the time the fans were turned on and the mother killed her litter, Koch said.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--color in AV only) A black Asian leopard is on e of the compound's 50 residents.

(2--color in AV only) Breeders are working to preserve the Eurasian lynx species.

(3--ran in SAC edition only) Visitors to the Exotic Feline Breeding Compund admire a Noirth Chinese leopard named Chen-Chi from a safe distance.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News