If you have ever visited TCWR before, you might remember a black leopard named Spyke! Spyke has been with us for quite some time now. In 2008, TCWR team members drove up to New York for a rescue. There was a zoo that was closing down and a few animals still in need of a home. TCWR brough home 2 tigers and 2 leopards, or so they thought…
About 3 months after we rescued Santania, the female leopard, she had given birth to Spyke. Apparently, she had just gotten pregnant right before her rescue. Spyke got his name from his sponsors when he was born.
He isn’t so little anymore, typically you can see Spyke lounging around his habitat with not a care in the world of who is around him. Sometimes he might be taking a nap on top of his platform at the very tippy top of his habitat. Other times he could be snoozing on his log with his legs dangling underneath him, or playing with his favorite toy. He loves his blue donut. He wears it as a necklace at times or even as a tutu. We have even seen him try and take that silly toy into his night-house building by carrying it around his waist. Sadly, it will never work that way. His night house door is a square and unfortunately his toy has more of a circular shape!
A lot of people see Spyke and immediately call him a black panther, but we are here to tell you, that creature actually doesn’t exist! The word panther is actually a nick name for a cat. Panther comes from the big cats Latin name like Panthera. So, when you call a cat a panther, you could be talking about a lion, tiger, leopard, or jaguar! Typically, though, people associate panther with a cat of leopard, jaguar, or even cougar size.
Next time you come to visit us, come out and see Spyke! You might even get to see him playing with his favorite toy!
