Here I introduce the minuls born at zoos around the world in 2026.
As you all know, this year was a baby boom year for Pallas’s cats in captivity.
Arranged in chronological order...
March 28
Three were born at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in the UK. Father: Atlan, mother: Namuu.
My pilgrimage in Prague was a big success. I followed the advice to visit them early in the day and they both appeared. I was a bit worried because the day prior there was a post on Reddit (r/PallasCats) speculating that the manuls might not be in the enclosure because the user couldn't spot them.
Friends, hello everyone! We’re here! We’re back from the Altai Mountains, where we spent two wonderful weeks! 🏔️
Our plans for this summer mountain-steppe journey included:
Nogeyama Zoo is extending its opening hours until 8:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays in August.
The votes are in!
A huge thank you to everyone who cast their vote to help name one of our adorable Pallas's cat kittens!
Our keepers chose the first two names:🌼 Deizi (Daisy)💠 Delbee (Petal)
And with an incredible 48% of the public vote, the final kitten has officially been named...
🪷 Pema (Lotus)!
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BhA1LR6YP/
This is a continuation of a long story. In short: we haven’t seen Fay since the beginning of the year, and a month ago the staff said she had a minor injury and was coming out only rarely.
We visited Opel Zoo today. It was immediately obvious, both by sight and by sound, that construction was underway in one corner of the zoo. The posters say that rhinos will be living there in early 2028. That’s far from the manuls. But the zoo lies in a valley between two hills; the construction is on one slope, while the manuls live on the opposite slope. Formally, as the crow flies, the distance is great, but in practice there is a clear line of sight between them, and the manuls can hear the sounds of construction.
The small trees in the manuls’ enclosure were trimmed, and there is now more open space. One of the shelters was also moved from the large enclosure to the small one. Before, there were 4 shelters in the large enclosure and 1 in the small one. Now there are 3 and 2. Though for some reason the shelter was placed exactly where the manuls sometimes use the toilet. But Batu sometimes sits on the roof of that shelter, apparently approving of the rearrangement.
At the neighbor’s enclosure, the European wildcat’s, a small area was fenced off with netting (about 2*3 meters). Maybe someone will be brought there temporarily during the breeding season (dreamily...)
Batu was active all day (with breaks for sleep, of course)
Last week, on the 19th of July, I decided to visit Košice Zoo in hopes of meeting the manuls and minuls residing there. Thankfully, my journey was a success!
Their enclosure was nice and spacious. The kids were beside their mom in one part, while their father was in a seperate part. The cages were connected by a bridge, but Aysen's part was closed off, so the minuls couldn't go in there, but they had a little more space to roam and walk around.
When I got there, the minuls were playing energetically, as they should. One of them was a little more shy - it went up to cuddle with Alani, and came down only when I moved a little further away. I managed to get some pictures though!😸
Today, Mimi's children, three beautiful babies, had their names revealed by Korkeasaari, in this instagram post.
The stripey girl's name is Saimi, which is an old Finnish name.
The stripy boy's name is Sten, which means "stone" in Swedish.
And the big girl is Saga, which, of course, means a story or legend.
This post was edited, to correct the names of the girls, as the zoo definitively stated which is which.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DbIqp2FigzH
Friends, recently at the Brno Zoo the minuls had a veterinary checkup, during which the kittens’ sex was determined. You’ll be surprised, but not all of them turned out to be boys!🤭 Three kittens are girls, and two are boys.
Alas, one of the kittens did not survive😥 To this day, one of the main problems in keeping manuls in captivity remains the high mortality rate among kittens.
We wish the fluffy Czech five to grow up healthy and strong and become big and very serious manuls! And now let’s admire the new delightful photos of the manul kittens shared with us by Jan Máca.
On Tuesday 14th July I took a drive over to see how Bat-Erdene, Altai and Khutga are settling in! They did not disappoint!
All asleep when I first arrived (another very warm morning) but that soon changed (for two of them, at least!). I had a very lucky catch when a keeper came to clean them out, offer chicks and...drum roll....give them a ball pit to play with! Hilarity ensued!
I'm pleased to say they all seem to be doing great, and now with some help I am a little better at identifying them - Bat seems to be the most confident of the trio, always playing hide and seek with me around the enclosure and keeping his eye on me, and had no fear of the keeper entering.
Altai is second, he had a long bath inside his hut but then did decide to come out and investigate lunch, then retreated again for another nap.
I'd been trying to wait until the weather got cooler, but I had a few days off this week with nothing special to do and got impatient so I decided to make a manul pilgrimage to Elmwood Park Zoo to try to see Kasper and Reza in their new home.
It's a small zoo, but nice! Seems clean and well-maintained. It's pretty much right off the Pennsylvania Turnpike so even though it's farther than Prospect Park for me, it's probably easier to get to.
Found the manul enclosure between the North American porcupine and red-tailed hawk. All three enclosures look new and aren't on the zoo map yet so I presume this space was built just for Kasper and Reza. ☺️ And just look how nice and big it is! Both sides belong to them.
Popular vote decided, Banham boys received dragon names: Caraxes, Balerion, Vermithor and Vermax.
The zoo announced the names on instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/zseabanhamzoo/p/DayFeVNDjU5/
Mini B has his official name now. There was a voting about his name, and most of the people voted for Borisz. But because the Budapest Zoo already had a manul with this name (Borisz lived with us between 2013 and 2018), the little boy received the name Borisz II. (I might will buy a little crown for him 😁)
So, let me introduce you His Little Majesty with his beautiful different coloured, healed eyes:
Borisz II. 🎉🎉🎉
This spring, wonderful Snezhana the Pallas's cat became a mother for the first time, welcoming three sweet little floofs. And despite her injured paw, she is doing an amazing job in her new role!
Summer, carefree kittenhood, joyful games with siblings, tiny but incredibly important discoveries, and the gentlest, most caring mom in the world always by your side — this is what the happiest time of manul life looks like! 💕
We invite you to immerse yourself in an atmosphere of pure childhood happiness and spend a few minutes in the company of the little manul kittens and their mamanul!
Watch our new video on our YouTube channel! 🙌🏻
There’s the NHK TV series named “Darwin Has Come”.
They announced they made the film version and wild manuls appear along with other wild cats! It will be released this October.
Friends, we’d like to draw your attention to the fact that today each minul from Port Lympne has received its own “passport,” as well as a personal photo and video gallery on the website. All the photos have already been identified and assigned to the individual galleries of each kitten.
"We have FOUR boys 💙 and we need your help naming them.
Last week our Pallas's cat kittens had their health check, vaccinations and microchips, where it was confirmed that we have four boys.
Our zookeepers have selected four sets of names - react to the post with the corresponding emojis:
👍 House of the Dragon: Caraxes, Balerion, Vermithor and Vermax
❤️ Lord of the Rings: Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin
😂 Thor characters: Thanos, Thor, Loki and Odin
😡 Mongolian Mountains: Altai, Khangai, Sayan and Baga.
We will share the winning set of names on Sunday!"
The vote for the name of the Budapest minul, son of Lucy and Bohus, is now on! You can vote for the lil' guy's name on the Zoo's website, here:
https://zoobudapest.com/aktualis/szavazzatok-a-manulkolyok-nevere/
The five options are Batu, Buda, Borisz, Bayar and Benedict!
Voting is open until July 9, 2026!
If you need help with translating the Hungarian website, please comment and I can help. 😸
Two manul kittens — zero peace and quiet! 😈
This spring, Lolo the Pallas’s cat gave birth to two cubs, and they have become real fluffy troublemakers!
Games, chases, somersaults, and all kinds of mischief — these floofs seem ready to play, tumble, and conquer new heights all day long!
Mom Lolo does her best to keep up with her little troublemakers and happily joins in their games. But when the kittens get a bit too wild, she has her own very special way of reminding them who’s in charge in this family 😁
What is it? Watch our new video to find out!
We have wonderful news from Finland: three kittens are growing up at Korkeasaari Zoo, born to the family of Mimi and Arkas! 🥰
The zoo staff first suspected that Mimi had kittens back in early May, when she began spending a lot of time inside her little houst (the nest box). Later, she was seen carrying one kitten in her mouth, but the den was only checked in June and that’s when it was confirmed that there were three little miminul
