“The USA miners cat comes to the UK!”

Exmoor zoo is unique amongst many UK zoos - here is just one reason why! These beautiful little animals are the first pair to be on exhibit in a zoo outside of the USA and Mexico where they naturally occur.

As far as we can find out this is the first time ever this Texan “cat” has ever been in a zoo in Europe! Fascinatingly these are members of the racoon family (despite having the local name of miner’s cat) and are more closely related to exotic sounding animals like the olingo or kinkajou! They are about the size of a domestic cat.

This pair were rescued into Texas zoo when their parents were killed in the wild and were offered to the UK as they were unable to use then for their educational encounters. Only just being placed on exhibit they have been at Exmoor since the autumn of 2018 and this spring season should be their first chance to breed.

Cacomistles or more commonly called ringtails are a shy nocturnal animal from the drier regions and we hope to encourage some day time activity around their feeding times at the zoo. Absolutely adorable with their large eyes and ringed tails they will make a fascinating exhibit for anybody curious and interested in the animals that emerge in the hours of darkness!