There have been many successful snow leopard cub births in zoos across the world this year (including our own Melbourne Zoo) and I must say I sometimes forget how fragile the breeding programs can be. Sadly two cubs born in May this year at the Welsh Mountain Zoo have died recently after coming down with feline cowpox. This cowpox is carried by small mammals like voles and wild mice and common in domestic cats in the UK. More from the BBC here.
Hopefully zoo staff and vets around the world can learn from these sad deaths and it won’t happen again. The Zoo says its hopes the snow leopard parents, mother Otila and her mate Szechuan will breed again next year.
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Were these the ONLY snow leopard cubs? I am sorry to hear of that loss.
Jen
happily there have been quite a number of snow leopard cubs born in zoos around the world this year..I don’t know how many…that info is kept by the global snow leopard studbook keeper at Helsinki Zoo but certainly reports of snow leopard births are increasing in the media.
Yes it was very sad about the little guys in Wales, hopefully other Zoos can learn from this experience and it won’t happen again.