Two snow leopard cubs born at Akron Zoo
7/5/2012 - West Side Leader
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| Photo courtesy of the Akron Zoo |
WEST AKRON — For the first time in its history, snow leopard cubs have been born at the Akron Zoo.
Two male cubs, shown at right, were born May 14, according to zoo officials, and are healthy and thriving. They currently are off exhibit and indoors in a cubbing area with their mother. They will remain indoors until they go on exhibit, most likely at the end of July or early August.
Snow leopards are an endangered species, and only nine cubs have been born this year that are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan in the United States, according to zoo officials.
Animal care staff at the zoo suspected the female snow leopard, Shanti, was pregnant in March and began monitoring her closely, according to zoo officials. Shanti, who is a first-time mother, has been attentive to the cubs and has been caring for them on her own, according to zoo officials. The cubs currently weigh about 6 pounds; at birth they weighed around 2 pounds each.
The father of the cubs, Roscoe, who is a first-time father, will be on exhibit every day at the zoo until Shanti and the cubs start to go out into the exhibit. As in the wild, the father does not participate in the rearing process, according to zoo officials. He will never have direct contact with the cubs. Roscoe is 9 years old and came to the Akron Zoo in 2004 from the San Antonio Zoo and Aquarium. Shanti is 4 years old and came to the Akron Zoo from the Binder Park Zoo in 2009, according to zoo officials.
A naming contest will be announced in mid-July and will conclude before the cubs go on exhibit, according to zoo officials.
For more information, visit www.akronzoo.org or call 330-375-2550.
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