Lev and His Travels
Lev had an active life to say the least. When his mother, Markiza, had complications post pregnancy, he and his siblings (Lev, Lastotchka and Altai) were put in the care of a step mother who was a domestic cat. They also had a step sibling!
(The images I sourced these from was from ZveriDoma article dated August 4, 2014. These images appears to be screen grabbed from a Комсомольская правда photoshoot or video)
It is almost as if mother cat didn't want to be caught up in their shenanigans!
Young Lev grew up and at 2 years old (2016 at the time) , it was announced he will be moving to Saitama Children's Zoo in Japan. Even with an affected paw, that doesn't slow him down.
Here is one of his first images posted by Saitama's Children Zoo when he first arrived.
It was at Saitama where he got his name Lev! It suits him very well I must say. It was at Saitama where he met his first love(?) in Shar. Their pairing was a success in bringing new wonderful manul kittens in the world who became known as the Flower Five.
(This was sourced from the wonderful blog from Manyamou, manyamou02.exblog.jp/26737027/)
(this was sourced by cat-press.com/cat-news/saitama-kids-zoo-manul-baby)
Male Pallas cats don't stay to raise their young in the wild. It was the same for Lev. When the kids were 11 months old, Saitama reported that Lev would be moving again. This time to Higashiyama Zoo where Honey lives. Another journey for the lovely Lev!
His departure was met with some sadness but with hope. Even though he was moving, he still gave a show to his fans at his farewell party. Here is a video for his farewell party at February 3rd, 2018 around 11:45.
His departure date came by all too soon and off he went.
He is quite a brave soul!But like all bravery, it only comes in times of uncertainty. For a manul, being transported and entering a completely new environment does require time to get acclimated.
(screenshot taken by https://www.tamakuma.club/2018/02/03/4111/, the domain for Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens appears to have moved so this is the only image I found when Lev first came to Higashiyama)
He looks quite shy and cautious here, but that is normal for a big move. In a Twitter/X post by Higashiyama Zoo, Lev was ready for public display after 16 days!
He looks quite polite here. Even though Lev is quite lovely, pallas cats are known for being solitary. So it comes to no surprise that Honey and Lev weren't successful in mating. Though Lev did try his best.
(source: Twitter/X account higashiyama5555 https://x(dot)com/higashiyama5555/status/1253262748063985664/photo/4)
(source: Twitter/X account Myao53 https://x(dot)com/myao53/status/1225418018542346240)
After 2 years of attempts, it was announced that Lev was being moved again. This time to Kobe Animal Kingdom for an attempt with young Azu. Higashiyama Zoo announced this on January 5, 2021 and his departure date is January 19, 2021. At the same time, Eru was also being moved to Higashiyama Zoo, who lived at Kobe Animal Kingdom with his sister Azu.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find moving pictures or his first arrival pictures. But lovely Lev did have some practice runs for his exhibition!
(source: https://x(dot)com/kobe_doubutsu/status/1354413852700667905?s=20)
(source: https://x(dot)com/kobe_doubutsu/status/1355138625428570119?s=20)
According to Kobe Journal, Lev and Azu were rotated on pubic display as there was only enough room for one manul to be displayed. In the month of November of 2021, a new installation was completed!
This was called the wedding chute! It allowed Lev and Azu to get used to each other before an attempt at mating.
(source: https://kobe-journal.com/archives/2833397937.html)
(source: https://readyfor(dot)jp/projects/kobe-oukoku2021/announcements/223102)
Though Lev and Az have noticed each other and been in contact for over a year, there was no breeding success. That is perfectly okay as breeding is tricky for pallas cats, and captivity does have its own challenges regarding this. Personality also has to be compatible enough, and from what I gathered, Azu was cool towards Lev throughout.
Though he had a broken paw, Lev doesn't have a broken spirit. It was announced that Lev would be moved to Nasu Animal Kingdom in July of 22. This would be his 4th move in 8 years!
(source:https://www.kobe-oukoku(dot)com/info/detail/39670 * this link returns a 404 error, but it was archived in the Wayback Machine)
(source: https://www.instagram(dot)com/p/CgairQOBb3A/?img_index=2)
And this was all of Lev's travels! I will now post some of my favorite Lev pics,
source: https://www.higashiyama.city.nagoya.jp/blog/2020/05/happy-birthday-1.html
It was a bittersweet journey trying to chronicle Lev's travels from a kitten, to an adult, to a father, to a traveler. But he has a place in my heart where he will never leave. I love you Lev <3
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A worthy son of Novosibirsk!
What an interesting post, and lovely photos.
I think the tabby cat with the kitten might not be Lev's foster mum, though (unless he had more than one?). There's a photo of Lev with his, and she's white and tortoiseshell. So there must have been at least two cat foster mothers at work in Novosibirsk; I wonder which litter the tabby one was looking after?
Another thing I've read somewhere, but don't remember where, is that they tried Lev with Tabby before he took up with Shar, but it didn't work out.
Poor Lev! Even Shar threw him on the floor, there's a video of it on YouTube. And a nice one of Lev doing The Walk at Polly when he finally lost patience with her tantrums. I wish I could find them again.
Thank you! A wonderful story about Lev's life and marvelous illustrations!
Interesting about the mating groove! I didn't know that's what it was called 👍
The video of Lev and Khani is one of the most beloved and memorable ones. Khani's expression when Lev fell was especially wonderful 😁
Thank you so much, a wonderful post! 👏
chuluu, I remember the videos you mentioned. I shall take a search for those videos after I rest (and perhaps dream of Lev). OtmoZOO had a legendary caption for their videos which captures the Polly one very well, "Even the gentle Lev can get angry."
Very touching. Thank you.
chuluu, I really like this video with them (I don't know who made it).
Thank you for the fascinating story!
I kept wondering why Lev was constantly being taken to different zoos and subjected to stress. It turns out he was a suitor for both Khanya and Az.
Fussy Az rejected Lev, but now she’s having a fling with his grandson (who is practically a copy of his grandfather).
anna_yu, Lev (in the wedding trough) and Az are arguing
Анна, Thank you! That's one I hadn't seen.
The other manul I've seen in a video doing the head-lifting intimidation thing is a female - Marie from Saitama. There's an old video of her and Sebastian having a fight and she does that at him.
anna_yu, Azenka was simply waiting for her beloved Narushka.