{"id":362640,"date":"2026-10-02T06:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362640\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T06:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:38:49","slug":"bronx-zoo-welcomes-adorable-new-snow-leopard-cub-member-of-rare-species-threatened-with-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362640\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx Zoo Welcomes Adorable New Snow Leopard Cub, Member of Rare Species Threatened with Extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

The Bronx Zoo has announced its newest snow leopard, Sarka, who was born in May<\/p>\n

Now that the 4-month-old cub has completed routine vaccinations and passed physical exams, she can explore the New York City zoo’s Himalayan Highlands area<\/p>\n

The zoo now has eight snow leopards, which are listed as “vulnerable” with fewer than 7,000 of the white-gray felines remaining in the wild across Asia<\/p>\n

The Bronx Zoo has a new contender for cutest animal!<\/p>\n

Sarka, a snow leopard cub, was born to her mom Dariga and her dad Moutig on May 31. And now the 4-month-old has had her routine vaccinations and passed her physical exams, she can be seen prowling around her exhibit, according to a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The female cub is doing well and has now reached the age she can venture with her mother into the Himalayan Highlands exhibit,” the New York City zoo wrote in a Facebook<\/a> post, alongside video footage of Sarka running around.<\/p>\n

“According to her keepers, she is enjoying exploring the habitat as well as seeing snow leopards in the neighboring exhibits,” the post added.<\/p>\n

\"Sarka,<\/p>\n

Sarka, a new snow leopard cub at the Bronx Zoo in New York City
Credit: Terria Clay \u00c2\u00a9WCS<\/p>\n

There are now eight snow leopards currently living at the Bronx Zoo.<\/p>\n

Snow leopards like Sarka are among the most elusive big cats in the world. Considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, there are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 left in the wild across Asia, per the release.<\/p>\n

\"Sarka,<\/p>\n

Sarka, a new snow leopard cub, with her mother Dariga at the Bronx Zoo in New York City
Credit: Terria Clay \u00a9WCS<\/p>\n

About another 600 live in zoos worldwide, according to the Snow Leopard Trust<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the wild, snow leopards live in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, where their white-gray coat provides camouflage, their padded feet act as snowshoes and their woolly tails give them warmth and balance.<\/p>\n

\"Sarka,<\/p>\n

Sarka, a new snow leopard cub at the Bronx Zoo in New York City
Credit: Terria Clay \u00c2\u00a9WCS<\/p>\n

They eat wild blue sheep, mountain sheep and Siberian ibex, a relative of goats and sheep, but are threatened by declining prey, illegal trade, damage to their natural habitat and retaliatory killing by people who herd livestock, per the WCS.<\/p>\n

Snow leopards in zoos have lived as long as 21 years, while they average about 10 to 12 years in the wild, per the Snow Leopard Trust.<\/p>\n

\"Sarka,<\/p>\n

Sarka, a new snow leopard cub at the Bronx Zoo in New York City
Credit: Terria Clay \u00c2\u00a9WCS<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

The Bronx Zoo was the first zoo in the U.S. to showcase snow leopards, back in 1903, and has had more than 80 snow leopard births over the years, the release stated.<\/p>\n

The zoo also takes part in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, a breeding program that helps keep the species healthy.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW The Bronx Zoo has announced its newest snow leopard, Sarka, who was born in May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,134682,9,24,63,134679,134680,134681,134678,129,131,130,5332,25620],"class_list":["post-362640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-himalayan-highlands","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-physical-exams","tag-routine-vaccinations","tag-sarka","tag-snow-leopard","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-the-bronx-zoo","tag-wildlife-conservation-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}