Momo (individual number No. 39), a Tsushima Leopard Cat cat currently being kept at Inokashira Park Zoo will be transferred to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya City on Tuesday, December 4, 2018. Momo is a female born on April 1, 2006, at Fukuoka City Zoo. She is currently 12 years old.


Tsushima Leopard Cat is a subspecies of Leopard Cat distributed in East and South Asia. In Japan, it is found only in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture. Weighing 3 to 5 kilograms and measuring 50 to 60 centimeters in length, it resembles the Aedes aegypti, but differs from it by having a white pattern behind its ears (tiger ear spots).

In 1971, it was designated as a national natural treasure, and in 1994, it was designated as a nationally endangered species of wild animals and plants. In 1994, it was designated as a

In order to protect the endangered Tsushima Leopard Cat species, the Ministry of the Environment is implementing a protection and propagation project based on the "Law Concerning Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora" (commonly known as the "Species Conservation Law"). At the request of the Ministry of the Environment, the public interest incorporated association Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) is engaged in a captive breeding program at 9 facilities in Japan. 35 animals, 18 males and 17 females, are being bred at 10 facilities in Japan, including the Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center as of November 12, 2018.

Inokashira Park Zoo We have been cooperating with the captive breeding project of "Momo" and have kept Tsushima Leopard Cat since 2006 (Notice).With the breeding season from winter 2018 to the following spring, we have decided to move a total of 5 animals nationwide based on the "2018-31 Tsushima Leopard Cat Breeding (Migration) Plan". The "Momo" currently at Inokashira Park Zoo is an individual that came to the park on November 22, 2015. She had been kept at an undisclosed facility, but based on the migration plan, she will be moved to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Garden in Nagoya City.

After Momo's departure, Tsushima Leopard Cat of Inokashira Park Zoo will have one male and two females.

The domestic migration schedule is as follows

Individual identification number	sex	age	Before moving	After moving	Planned moving date
No. 39	female	12 years old	Inokashira Park Zoo	Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Nagoya City	December 4th
No. 45	Male	14 years old	Yokohama Municipal Zoo	Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Nagoya City	December 4th
No. 65	female	4 years old	Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Nagoya City	Saikai National Park Kujukushima Zoological and Botanical Garden	December 5th
No. 81	female	1 year old	Kyoto City Zoo	Saikai National Park Kujukushima Zoological and Botanical Garden	December 5th
No. 68	Male	4 years old	Saikai National Park Kujukushima Zoological and Botanical Garden	Kyoto City Zoo	December 6th

(November 30, 2018)