Manuls at Opel Zoo

We often visit Opel Zoo, and over the past few months we just haven’t been able to see Faye.

In addition, Batu has been kept all this time in a separate small enclosure, and wires appeared in one of the houses in the large enclosure, which we think are for a camera. We were really hoping for kittens, but on our last visit the doors between the enclosures were opened, Batu was roaming the large enclosure, and Faye was still nowhere to be seen.

Today we decided to go for the whole day and find out what was going on with Faye.

In the middle of the day a keeper came to clean up (the keeper is great; when he went into Batu’s enclosure and then into the neighboring enclosure with the European wildcat, he greeted them :-) ) and when he was done, we asked him about Faye. He told us that Faye is alive, but she has some kind of injury in the area of her left cheek (it’s unclear whether it’s an external scratch or some internal injury), and she spends all her time in the house and comes out rarely. They keep them apart and also feed her separate food (we didn’t ask for details); apparently it’s hard for her to chew, but that’s only our guess. But, as he said, this may soon be over and they will live together again. Still, it remains unclear why two weeks ago we saw Batu in the shared enclosure.

Since the keeper lifted the roof on all four houses, but cleaned only three of them, that’s how we figured out exactly which house Faye is in. I stood for five hours opposite the entrance to that house, but no one ever appeared ;-(.

Batu is doing well; he is active and sociable. But the small enclosure is too small for him.

Here is the yawning and washing kitty:

Batu in Opel Zoo, June 14, 2026

Batu in Opel Zoo, June 14, 2026

P.S. When you stand in front of an empty enclosure for a long time, you start watching the visitors more. The poor kitty was called all sorts of things: a raccoon; a mini-lynx; some cheerful children asked us: is it a cat or a monkey; some person said misty cat