- Title: GERMANY: NEW LEOPARD CUBS MAKE PUBLIC DEBUT.
- Date: 25th June 2002
- Summary: (L!3) TIERPARK, BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 25, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. BABY LEOPARD CUBS IN BASKET WITH ZOOKEEPER 2. CUBS BEING HELD BY ZOOKEEPER 3. VARIOUS OF CUBS WALKING AND CLIMBING ON A TREE 4. (SOUNDBITE) (German) LEOPARD CUB HANDLER, ANGELIKA BERKLING SAYING: "We have two cubs here, the reason they are so special is because they are so close to extinction in the wild. We are really really happy that we have a successful breeding programme." 5. LEOPARD CUB ON TREE 6. CUB CLIMBING CAGE 7. VARIOUS OF CUBS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th July 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TIERPARK, BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVAVY5CNOMU5YEW2ZCYWGHJR8Y0
- Story Text: The latest furry additions to Berlin's Tierpark Zoo
have been introduced to the media. The two baby leopards were
born in May and are part of the rarest subspecies, known as
Amur leopards which are nearly extinct in the wild.
The twin Amur leopard cubs, a boy and a girl born as
part of a captive breeding programme which is carefully
coordinated to maintain genetic diversity, were shown to the
media for the first time on Tuesday (June 25).
The cub's parents, Lena and Negus were donated to Tierpark
Zoo last year from the Moscow zoo and this was their first
successful mating.
"We have two cubs here, the reason they are so special is
because they are so close to extinction in the wild. We are
really really happy that we have a successful breeding
programme," zookeeper Angelika Berkling said.
The leopard, once common throughout Africa and Asia is now
under threat from hunting and loss of habitat. The Amur
leopard, the rarest of the subspecies originates from the
region of southern Siberia near Vladivostok encroaching the
borders of China and North Korea.
The subspecies has a denser fur, an adaptation needed to
survive the harsh climates found in the Siberian region where
winter temperature can fall as low as minus 30 degrees
centigrade.
Due to hunting and the conversion of land for commercial
farming there are approximately 40 Amur leopards left in the
wild. The leopards are hunted for body parts used in Chinese
medicine and sometimes killed by farmers protecting their
livestock. Captive populations now number over 200, and are
found in zoos and wildlife parks around the world.
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