The zoo called the birth \u201can important step\u201d in protecting a vulnerable species under a snow leopard species survival plan. <\/p>\n
Species survival plans at institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums<\/a> help manage breeding and transfer of specific species or sub-species of animals. <\/p>\n There are roughly 600 snow leopards in accredited zoos around the world, according to the nonprofit Snow Leopard Trust<\/a>, and the Environmental Literacy Council credits about 250 of those with being in American zoos<\/a>. <\/p>\n John Ball Zoo\u2019s happy news comes just a few months after they lost another young snow leopard at 9 months old<\/a> following an illness. <\/p>\n Named Mera last September, the cub was also born to Yuki, then 3, and fellow leopard Mylo<\/a>, 7, in June 2024. <\/p>\n The zoo has featured other warm imagery of Yuki and her offspring on social media. On Friday, a video showed Yuki laying with and grooming the cub. <\/p>\n A name for teh new cub had not been announced.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GRAND RAPIDS, MI \u2013 A new member has joined the family at John Ball Zoo. The Grand Rapids…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-40738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Snow](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/VEEJ442LHJAINCAUMR4JTUROHU.jpg\")
Momma snow leopard Yuki shares a cuddle with young cub Mera in January this year. Mera passed away in March after an illness. Photo used with permission of John Ball Zoo.Photo used with permission of John Ball Zoo<\/p>\n