The last daughter of Altana and Fellini has moved to her new home!
Tuya in Parco Faunistico La Torbiera, May 11, 2025
The last daughter of Altana and Fellini from their fluffy Italian all-girl quartet of 2025 has recently left her home at Parco Faunistico La Torbiera and set off for her new one — to the Chemnitz Zoo in Germany, where her fiancé, Bob, is already waiting for her ❤️
Her name is Tuya (Туяа). It's a Mongolian name which means “a ray of light”.
Bob in Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden, November 28, 2022
We were lucky enough to see all the girls at La Torbiera when they were little cubs, just like in these photos 🥰
We hope to meet all of them again in their new homes:
- Saran in Bio-Topia Dunkerque;
- Tsas in Kraków Zoo;
- Tuya in Chemnitz Zoo;
- Ariunaa in Brno Zoo.
All the fluffy girls were sent to their new homes as part of the EEP program, which aims to ensure genetic diversity, improve animal welfare, and increase the species’ chances of long-term survival.
Comments 20
so tuya was moved to the zoo who her grandmother pema lived
grushafan21, Yes! We hope to visit her soon :)
Well, for the repose of the souls of the Chemnitz beetles and spiders!
Pavel Burov, 😈😆😆
Oh, wow, the girls really went all over Europe! I hope they're all settling in and not missing their sisters too much. 💚💚
They've grown up so quickly and moved away! Now Altana needs to rest and think about new babies 🤗
Incest is bad :( Who let the beautiful Tuya be mated with her uncle 😡😡😡
eetunousiainen, Probably the same person who put Lucy in with her grandfather Bohus, or Poes and Norbu together... However. The sad truth is, in Europe most manuls come from 2, maybe 3 lines that intermingled already. they're all related.
partyontheobjective, I know, but usually they are at least third cousin, not that close. Also I may be ignorant but i don't recall Poes and Norbu having kittens nor Lucy and Bohus, while Bob is said to be Tuya's fiance
eetunousiainen, Based on our discussions with zoologists from various zoos, we came to the conclusion that, of course, it is beneficial for a population when inbreeding is kept to a minimum. However, reality often differs from the ideal scenarios zoologists would prefer. Their job is to maintain populations under the conditions that currently exist.
There are quite a few historical examples of populations that originated from just one or a few pairs. In zoos, these include Przewalski's horse, Père David's deer, California condor, and Guam crow. In the wild, a well-known example is the European bison.
While looking for additional examples in nature, I came across an interesting study showing that a population of wild sheep (mouflon) on the Kerguelen Islands — which originated from a single pair — exhibited much greater genetic diversity than scientists had predicted — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070620154911.htm
Almost all manuls in Europe are part of the EEP, and breeding pairs are determined by the species coordinator, who has the necessary education, experience, and software tools to calculate optimal pairings.
One of the reasons for creating this website is to educate people about the breeding of wild animals in zoo conditions, where populations are limited. Yes, sometimes the decisions made by zoologists may not align with what we are used to in everyday human life. So rather than rushing to conclusions or criticism, try to see this as an opportunity to learn something new. Take a moment to understand why things are the way they are — and we will do our best to help with that.
Manulizationverified_filled ,
Thanks for a comprehensive answer
eetunousiainen, You are very welcome!
I have also worried about risk of inbreeding when I studied the pedigrees. Would it be possible to resolve this issue, for example to take some individs from the countries where manuls live in the wild? Kazakhstan, China or Mongolia? I suppose there are wild animals rescue centers there and they take care of manuls sometimes and maybe could transfer they abroad. What do you think about my idea? I think inbreeding is not just EEP:s worry, that's the same for the USA, Japan Russia.
Annika Wawrzyńska, To my the best knowledge it is not that easy.
First, there are laws preventing taking protected animals from wildlife. Second, even with given permission it is not that simple to take an animal from the wild, and bring it to some zoo, and make it breed.
E.g., in 2010 Moscow zoo was granted with a permission to take 8 manuls from the wild. They were lucky to capture 3 males and 5 females. Then they had to release one female 'cause she did not accept any food, obviously it was not possible to bring her to the zoo. Then it took three years to make 'em breed. To my the best knowledge there is no single alive descendant of those manuls. Some links (did not find the 4th female):
https://manulization.com/manuls/varvara.html
https://manulization.com/manuls/olga-dauria.html
https://manulization.com/manuls/dauria-i.html
It is not that simple. Zelenogorsk and Karaganda cases are unusual. To my the best understanding animal taken from the wild experiences severe amount of stress and most likely is not able to bring healthy offspring in zoo.
I am pretty sure those folks working on manuls conservation and breeding suggest all possible options including taking individuals from the wild.
Pavel Burov, Kinda hard to extrapolate overall morale of those involved in that bringing manuls from the wild to Moscow zoo project. Have obtained all permissions needed. Have met all ends together, brought cats to the zoo. And nothing.
Pretty happy I am not a zoologist. Such a disaster would hurt pretty badly.
Pavel Burov, The 4th female is Satori https://manulization.com/manuls/satori.html , who left behind a huge furry legacy.
Manulizationverified_filled ,
Wow! What a tree of descendants.
Pavel Burov, Yep! Satori is a great Pallas's cat mother! Her descendants now live in zoos all over the world! 🔥
Pavel Burov, Thank you so much for explanation! I am just more and more interested at details how the zoos work with manuls.
Manulizationverified_filled ,
I wonder if cloning will solve these problems sometime in the distant future?