Zoo asks permission to build ocelot exhibit
The North Carolina Zoo would build a new outdoor ocelot exhibit under a provision in Gov. Pat McCrory's proposed budget.
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An ocelot is a big cat native to Central and South America. A female ocelot will mature at around 20 pounds; a male ocelot can reach 35 pounds.
Currently, the zoo's pair of ocelots is housed indoors at the Sonora Desert exhibit. The new exhibit would be built outside, next to the Sonora exhibit.
"The purpose of the exhibit is to help us ... breed ocelots from other zoos," said John Groves, who oversees the Sonora exhibit for the zoo.
There would be no state money involved in the project. The $642,000 was raised privately but has to be authorized by the General Assembly before it can be spent.
Groves said the exhibit could be ready by next spring if everything goes according to schedule.
Once the new exhibit is complete, Groves said, the zoo would be better able to breed its existing pair and host breeding pairs from others zoos.
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