Zookeepers are offering a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes habitat of two rare \u2013 and adorably fluffy \u2013 Amur leopard cubs. <\/p>\n
The new additions to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago can be seen in the video below as they play, pounce and follow their mom \u2013 Mina \u2013 around their enclosure. <\/p>\n
With fewer than 100 left in the wild, Amur leopards are critically endangered. The cubs represent the world\u2019s rarest big cat and are part of the zoo\u2019s ongoing conservation efforts. <\/p>\n
They were born on July 14<\/a>. At two months old, they just had their first wellness exam, including being weighed and getting vaccinated against viruses and parasites. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are gorgeous and appear healthy, weighing about 6 and 6.4 pounds,\u201d said Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, senior veterinarian at Brookfield. \u201cThis eight-week exam was the first step towards getting them outside to meet the world, hopefully in time to see our first snowfall.\u201d <\/p>\n While the cubs are far from their native Russia, they are expected to do well in Chicago as Amur leopards thrive in cold temperatures. Brookfield Zoo says \u201ctheir ultra-thick coats and long tails help them stay warm in winter, making Chicago feel a lot like home.\u201d Amur leopards are considered to be the rarest big cats in the world. <\/p>\n The cubs\u2019 mother Mina, an 8-year-old Amur leopard, arrived at Brookfield from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in October 2021 as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums\u2019 (AZA) Species Survival Plan. The plan works to maintain healthy and genetically diverse populations of threatened and endangered species by placing the animals in accredited zoos. <\/p>\n The cubs\u2019 father, Sasha, was born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago in 2020, according to zoo officials. <\/p>\n The animal care staff continues to monitor the family closely. <\/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":"Zookeepers are offering a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes habitat of two rare \u2013 and adorably fluffy \u2013 Amur…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-159919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}