You may now marvel at the most adorable snow leopard cub EVER at the Bronx Zoo! Yes, we may be biased, but this little guy, born on April 9th, is not only cute, but he's super fast too! Check it out:
The cub, who still doesn't have a name, is the son of Maya and Leo. Leo the snow leopard is notable because he arrived to NYC as an orphaned 13-month-old cub in 2006 through an agreement between the Islamic Republican of Pakistan and the U.S. government. Think of it as snow leopard diplomacy! Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and WCS Executive Vice President of Zoos and Aquarium, said, "The rescue of Leo as a cub, conducted by two nations, the continued global interest in him, and now the story of his first offspring shows the power of the connections between humans and nature," while Richard G. Olson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, lauded the news as a testament to the "depth of U.S.-Pakistani cooperation, and to what can be accomplished when many individuals both within and outside government work toward a common goal."
And Dr. Asad Majeed Khan, Charge d'Affaires of Pakistan, said, “It’s heartening to learn that Leo had his own cub, a male, this summer. Leo has served as a symbol of deep-friendship and abiding goodwill between our two countries."
Back to the snow leopard details: The Bronx Zoo has led North America in snow leopard births (over 70), which is important because they are among the "most endangered big cats with an estimated 3,500-7,500 remaining in the wild," according to the WCS. Maya, the mom, previously had a litter at the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois, but she was brought over to the Bronx Zoo last year as a mate for Leo (many zoos are part of a "cooperative breeding program designed to maintain genetic diversity and demographic stability in zoo populations of threatened and endangered species").
