It has happened! Part 5. Saint Petersburg.
Saint Petersburg has several “names” — the Northern Palmyra, the Northern Capital, the Northern Venice. Some people call the city simply Piter. It has also been Petrograd and Leningrad. And it is precisely the zoo in Saint Petersburg that is called the Leningrad Zoo (abbreviated as Lenzoo). This name was kept in honor of the feat of the zoo workers during the blockade years (September 1941 to January 1944).
Saint Petersburg is a “young” city; it was founded and made the capital of the Russian Empire by Peter I in 1703 (Moscow traces its history back to 1147). That is why Namika (https://manulization.ru/manuls/namika.html) has earned the title of empress among manul fans. If we delve once more into Russian history, there were only three empresses: Catherine I (after Peter I’s death), Elizabeth (Peter I’s daughter), and Catherine II the Great. I wonder whom Namika resembles more? Elizabeth loved balls, dressing beautifully, and entertainment. Catherine II (she did not have a drop of Russian blood, and Namika is also a foreigner — she came from the Czech Republic) did a great deal for the country and deserved the addition “the Great” to her name.
Summer Namika
Namika’s husband — the manul Sven (https://manulization.ru/manuls/sven.html) — is second in seniority and first among the males in Russia (the oldest is Lastochka). He is very modest and, as befits the husband of an empress, stays in her shadow. He rests more, regularly keeps up his water balance (drinks from a cup). But he remains a good hunter — during lunch he is always on the lookout, waiting for tasty food.
In 2023 they had a son — Shu (also Shunya, Shunechka, Shunyasha) (https://manulization.ru/manuls/shu.html). And I am somewhat at a loss — what title does Shu bear? In the Russian Empire, the heir to the imperial throne held the title of Grand Duke. But!!! The Duke (or, at home, Dukey) for us is Timofey. How can one not get confused here? Or did I miss Shunechka’s title?😃 Shunya is the first manul I saw both in childhood and before marriage and after marriage) Many manul fans noticed changes in Shu’s appearance after he became a father. He seemed to become more stern and lost his childlike expression. In a word — he grew into a man and matured. Oh, these wives)
Winter Shu is simply incredible (February 2026):
Shu is trying to open the door through which food comes. Patience is needed:
He keeps turning his head this way and that: children and wife on the left, beloved mother on the right — just don’t tear himself apart between them)
In three years Shunya himself became a father — how time flies:
And I wrote about what an excellent hunter Shu is right here: https://manulization.ru/manulover/l83/posts/udacnaa-ohota-su-bwuh9vstgn17quvw.html
As recently as January 2026 there were only 3 manuls in Lenzoo, and by my visit in July there were already eight!!! A real geometric progression) And this increase in manuls is connected with Pepe (https://manulization.ru/manuls/pepe.html). Pepe is Timofey’s full sister from Moscow, the daughter of Zelenogorsk and Lastochka — a most worthy match. She was born in Novosibirsk, but for several years she had lived in Barnaul with her brother Chip (there will be more about my visit to the Barnaul Zoo in the final part). And then in winter (January 2026) she arrived to her fiancé Shu. We were all worried; at first things did not go well between them — they would run along the shelves, sometimes away from each other, sometimes moving about chaotically so as not to run into one another by accident. Naturally, they hissed at each other too. And not a single photographer captured a scene of love between them. Then, unexpectedly, first came the news that one of Namika’s two enclosures had been taken away and given to Pepe, who now had two. That was a very strong hint at an addition to the family. But you never know why enclosures are changed. The appearance of four babies came as a complete surprise. Pepe is three years older than Shu and did not waste any time; she took everything into her fluffy paws and carried it all out at the highest level.
Pepe knew no peace; only toward evening did she decide that she, too, could pose — not only her mother-in-law Namika and husband Shu — but she still kept glancing back at the children all the time; four is no joke:
My visits to Lenzoo
August 2023. A brief meeting and amazement at how tiny manuls really are. Shu (he is almost three months old already) is catching up with his mother in size. Even when I first saw the mother, I thought that she was the kitten. The photos turned out really bad and I don’t have them at hand now.
July 2025. I saw all three, but the meeting was somewhat rushed — it was hot, there were lots of people, and I had some bags with me. What I remember most was Sven’s long walk. It was clear that he was getting on in years (he is 12 now), but he walked sturdily along the trunk and peered onto the upper shelves.
The beginning of February 2026. Straight off the train, I dropped my things at the hotel and headed to the zoo. That day it was around minus 20 degrees. Petersburg stands on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, and the humidity added extra challenge to the temperature. Knowing that the manul babies might be in their houses, I still went. At the ticket office they told me to look at the exotarium, and I said: only after Shu. The woman sighed in understanding))) I run up to the enclosures — and there is Namika first, staring straight at me, all amber in the sunlight.
A successful winter trip. I went to see the fluffballs twice and saw the mating season between Namika and Sven in all its glory. She moved away from him, he moved toward her. How he looked up at her from below. How he wanted to be near her. I did not expect such activity from Sven. Shunya in his thick winter coat came out less often, but how spherical he was — a joy to behold, just to admire and admire him.
July 2026. As soon as it became known that the kittens had been born, I started planning where I could fit in a trip to Petersburg. I could not miss such a miracle. And admiring the minuls went wonderfully. They played, they attacked their mother, they watched birds and people. During the week I stayed there, I went to see them three times. The first time I could not sit calmly in the hotel while it was raining and went straight to them. By the time I got there, the rain had eased. There was practically no one at the zoo, and the manul babies were not hiding at all — all in plain sight. The second time was toward evening and until closing. That was the best time. The sun had already moved away from their enclosures, the little ones were frolicking, and their mother was worrying about them. Shunya in the neighboring enclosure was listening and attending to his magnificence. And the third time was at lunchtime — of course, I had to push my way a little among the people, but still I managed to see everyone, though the babies were a bit harder to see, because a crowd of people gathered around them.
The kittens are very active; they have toys and a mother to play with. They are already eating meat and even fighting over it, playing with quails and carrying them around the enclosure in their teeth. Pepe and the kittens live in two enclosures. The area may not be very large, but there are many vertical supports — shelves on all the walls and logs. To my surprise, the kittens (and they were only two months old) were already walking all over the horizontal logs and upper shelves. Sometimes it was a little hard to climb, but they are persistent
Pepe and Shu’s kittens
My phone would not let me photograph them any better, but the little buttons are adorable all the same
Pepe and Shu’s kittens
With mom
Pepe and Shu’s kittens
How I want to go back to Petersburg again. To watch the family of intellectuals) Saint Petersburg is also called the cultural capital, which is why we manul fans often call the manuls in Lenzoo the Petersburg intelligentsia) Petersburg is rich in sights, and the family of manuls is one of them!
Comments 2
— matured and grown up
Grown wiser and thinner. Sorry.
Thanks for all the wonderful photos! Prrrrrrrr!