Have you been to the Zoo?

Have you seen the Giraffe?

Did the Monkeys delight you;

did they make you laugh?

Did the roar of the Lion

send chills down your spine?

Did the wonders of wildlife

enlighten your mind?

Thank you to Zoo Keepers 

                                caring Zoologists, Veterinarians,                          

zealous Biologists.

Thanks to them all

for all that they do;

And thanks to the kids

that go to the Zoo!

Zoos & Amurs – Proud New Additions Are a Win for Conservation!

IUCN Red List: Most Critically Endangered of all the big cats. Number about 50 in the wild in Russia.

There are over 200 Amur Leopards in Zoos around the world.

Here are just some of them;

Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Syracuse, New York. June 2019

Proud Amur parents Tria and Rafferty announce the arrival of twin cubs, a male, and a female. The babies weighed in at a healthy 6.2 pounds and 5.6 pounds. An Amur Leopard Woodland area is being built at a cost of $400,000 to give the family a natural habitat where they can explore, learn to climb, and be ‘real leopards’.

Brookfield Zoo. Chicago, Illinois. April 2018

Mom, Lisa, and Dad, Kasha are thrilled to welcome two male cubs to their family. Another brother, Temur, two years old, was adopted by another zoo for their Amur conservation program.

Utah Hogle Zoo. Salt Lake City, Utah. February 2017

Mother, Zeya, and Dad, Dimitri have produced two Amur cubs, named Rafferty and Roman. Probably, these little guys are now in other zoos that have leopard conservation programs.

Connecticut Beardsley Zoo. Bridgeport, Connecticut. January 2019

Most Amur females bearing young in “compassionate captivity’ zoos are loving mothers. But Freya,who gave birth to three Amur cubs, was not well suited for motherhood. She “overgroomed” the babies,licking them too constantly. One did not live.

Animal Care Specialists took the other two and hand-cared for them.

They are a male named Orion, and a female named Kallisto. The female is a very rare melanistic black. Cubs are doing well and are now on view in their special habitat.

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland/Highland Wildlife Park, Edinburgh, Scotland. February 2018

Proud Amur parents Arina and Freddo have birthed at least one newborn cub.

This is the only zoo program designed to reintroduce Amurs to their natural habitat in Russia. The cub/s are left with their mother and are isolated from human contact. This is to ensure that they retain their natural instincts. They are monitored by camera carefully and checked physically by Zoo Veterinarians at regular intervals.

Zoo Vienna Schonbrunn, Austria. March, 2018

Happy parents Ida and Piotr celebrate the birth of two Amur cubs. They like to play in the snow. These additions to the population of this rare leopard will be disbursed to European Zoos for the conservation of the species.

That’s all for now, Conservation Kids. Look for more reports on the birth of endangered animals in Zoos, where we will continue to bring you more “behind the scenes” work that Zoos do to ensure that all animals have a place on earth.

Want to learn more about the Leopard?  Click here.