Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo welcomes 3 new snow leopard cubs
Woodland Park Zoo's 3 new snow leopards, born on Memorial Day, will bond with their mother, Marai, for two to three months before they appear in public. Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo has welcomed three new snow leopard cubs, the first at the zoo since their father, Aibek, was born in 2017. The cubs were born to first-time parents Marai, 7, and 6, with their mother, Marai exclusively nursing them from her mother. The pair were paired under a breeding recommendation by the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan to ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of snow leopards in zoos across the country. Currently, the cubs will bond with Marai for two to three months in an off-view maternity den, monitored by cameras, before they will begin eating solid food and then be introduced to the outdoor exhibit later this summer. The zoo anticipates their debut from the exhibit later in the summer.
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The three cubs were born to first-time parents Marai, 7, and Aibek, 6, on Memorial Day, marking the first snow leopard cubs to be born at the zoo since their father, Aibek, was born in 2017, the zoo announced online.
Snow leopard cubs are born helpless, with their eyes closed.
The three are exclusively nursing from their mother, Marai, who has amazed zookeepers “with the level of care she’s been giving her cubs,” said zookeeper Chris Scheetz in the zoo’s blog post.
The cubs will bond with Marai for two to three months in an off-view maternity den, which zookeepers monitor with cameras. Then, the cubs will start eating solid food and keepers will introduce them to the outdoor, on-view exhibit, the zoo said.
“Given how vocal and active the cubs already are, we’re excited for guests to see them later this summer, and we expect they will bring a lot of energy and excitement to the snow leopard habitat,” Scheetz said.
Right now, zoo staff have little physical contact with the new family to minimize disturbances. Snow leopards are solitary animals in the wild, so their father, Aibek, and grandmother Helen (age 19 and the mother of Aibek) are housed separately. Guests can see Aibek and Helen on exhibit until the cubs are ready to make their debut, the zoo said.
Snow leopards are a vulnerable species, and the cubs’ parents at Woodland Park Zoo were paired under a breeding recommendation made by the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan. The plan aims to ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of snow leopards in zoos across the country, according to the zoo.
The cubs “will go on to be incredible conservation ambassadors for their cousins in the wild,” said the zoo’s curator Erin Sullivan in the blog post.
Woodland Park Zoo has cared for snow leopards since they first arrived in 1972 from the former Soviet Union.
In the wild, snow leopards inhabit high mountain ranges of Russia and Central Asia, including in Afghanistan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal and Pakistan.
Their population in the wild is estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,390, according to the zoo.