By Philip K. Ensley, D.V.M., Dipl. ACZM I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career as a veterinarian specializing in zoological medicine, including three decades at the San Diego Zoo. I have worked extensively with large, exotic felids, such as tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars and many other cat species. I have inspected zoos for accreditation purposes, and performed animal welfare inspections of circuses for local law enforcement, and in federal court cases. My background and experience affords me the opportunity to provide perspective concerning the future of Shadow, a 17-year-old male black leopard, currently living at the Peninsula SPCA in Newport News, Virginia. I am confident in believing that Shadow would benefit from being transferred to a new home at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. The SPCA’s rescue of this beautiful leopard has been a remarkable achievement. He’s alive today because of their efforts. However animal welfare is a changing landscape and it’s time to consider alternatives to his current standard of care and living conditions. The hurt of letting Shadow go after all these years of taking care of him I can only imagine as being extraordinarily difficult. I am nonetheless compelled to strongly urge consideration for his transfer to a life full of new beginnings. After carefully reviewing videos and the written documentation available to me, it seems clear that Shadow is morbidly obese and he is maintained in a concrete and chain link enclosure which I understand is just over 2200 square feet. Leopards are apex predators who evolved to roam over wide areas, hunt and control their territory. These predominantly nocturnal animals are most active at night. They are agile and good swimmers. A cage that can be measured in square feet cannot meet his needs, even at his current age. Shadow’s obesity is likely caused by his inability to achieve appropriate exercise due to lack of space. Obesity will negatively impact his health as he becomes older. Shadow engages in abnormal repetitive motion behaviors, known as stereotypes, which are commonly understood to indicate an animal’s frustration, boredom, and stress. Shadow paces the length of his small enclosure. Shadow reminds me of two jaguars I came to know during a post-doctoral internship at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in the 1970s. Fiesta and Jude lived under very similar circumstances. Although well cared for and loved, they, like Shadow, lived in conditions that not only limited, but also suppressed their natural behaviors. They lived in a severely restricted space, on concrete, with little variation or novel stimuli. They suffered physically and mentally as a result. Fiesta and Jude also engaged in stereotypic behaviors. Times and attitudes have changed since wild animals were housed in cramped barren pens. We know now that small enclosures are no longer considered appropriate for big cats. Larger, more natural habitats are healthier and considered far superior. Living in Colorado, I have visited the Wild Animal Sanctuary many times. I can see how the lives of large cats like Shadow have become transformed. Many have gone from damp hard concrete, much like the concrete Shadow has lived on for his entire life, to natural ground and tall grass. They now see expansive acreage habitats, scan the Rocky Mountains across a distant horizon, and can conceal themselves in outcroppings and broken terrain, sprint over grassy knolls, with open sky above them, and at night gaze upon the stars. Shadow has an opportunity to experience what Fiesta and Jude could not even dream about. His advanced age should not be a barrier or prevent a well-planned transportation process and release in Colorado. The Sanctuary personnel who would be transporting Shadow are most experienced in relocating older cats just like Shadow. This has become their chosen life’s work. As a kid growing up in Virginia our family had a small farm in the Shenandoah Valley along the north fork of the Shenandoah River. Hiking over hills and thru the oak and cedar forests, corn and hay fields, cooling off in the river was a boyhood dream I often recall with great relish. Shadow can come close to this at a sanctuary in Colorado. I hope he will have that opportunity. --- Dr. Philip K. Ensley is a board-certified veterinarian in zoological medicine. He lives in Colorado.