Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomed a pair of Amur leopard cubs last Wednesday, adding to the population of one of the world’s most endangered species.
Listed as critically endangered since 1996, Amur leopards are the rarest big cat species, with only an estimated 100 still alive, mostly in eastern Russia and western China. according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The births are the first in nearly 20 years of the zoo’s leopards, which participate in the survival plan for the Amur leopard species, according to a press release. An Amur cub named Sochi was also born at the Denver Zoo in 2013.
Cubs are born blind and are extremely fragile in the first weeks and months of life, but the two Colorado natives came in at an average weight of two pounds and showed a quick instinct to nurse from their mother, Anya, said Rebecca Zwicker , animal care manager in the Asian Highlands at the CMZoo.
“I’m always amazed when a new mom embraces the role as naturally as Anya does,” said Zwicker. “She is a patient and attentive mother. She always knows where those babies are. There is a lot of cuddling, grooming, grooming and cleaning, and we see Anya taking the time to groom and care for herself, which is just as important.”
a remote camera monitors Anya’s lair and the plan is to leave the new family alone for the first eight weeks. The father, Anadyr, will not have an active parenting role for the cubs, which is typical of Amur leopards.
The zoo has a tradition of waiting 30 days to name a baby and the public will be informed when they are large enough to be made available for guests to visit in the Asian Highlands exhibit.
The birth of the cubs came shortly after the CMZoo lost a popular and longtime resident, a female African elephant named Malaika.