- Title: UKRAINE: Three rare Siberian leopard cubs born in Yalta Zoo
- Date: 8th October 2009
- Summary: CUB'S FATHER SCRATCHING INSIDE ENCLOSURE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian ) YALTA ZOO DIRECTOR, OLEG ZUBKOV, SAYING: "They are a good, steady couple and they've had their first cubs. We are feeding them ourselves. We decided to be over-cautious because we were afraid to lose these cubs, the couple's first babies, because there are two leopard females and one male living here togethe
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2009 13:00
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- Location: Ukraine
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- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVAARWFM6DRNOHTQVJGEE6A4UYU2
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- Story Text: A near-extinct Amur Leopard has given birth to three healthy cubs in Ukraine's Yalta zoo.
Visitors to the Yalta Zoo on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine recently had the chance to greet some rare new arrivals - three newborn Amur Leopard cubs.
The Amur Leopard is amongst the most endangered cats in the world. Today its population is only about 40. Most live in the Russian Far East, with a small number in Northeastern China and North Korea.
In the remote Siberian wilderness the big cats face multiple threats, the most serious being poaching and loss of habitat due to industrial development.
Amur Leopards rarely breed in captivity, which is why the birth of three cubs from three-year-old female Indira and four-year-old male Sheikh is being celebrated by the zoo's administration.
The zoo staff weren't aware of Indira's pregnancy, because leopard cubs are born very small, weighing about 200-300 grams. Also Indira and Sheikh have been together for nearly two years with no sign of starting a family. Zoo Director Oleg Zubkov was therefore surprised to see Sheikh carrying a newborn cub in his teeth around the cage.
"They are a good, steady couple and they've had their first cubs. We are feeding them ourselves. We decided to be over-cautious because we were afraid to lose these cubs, the couple's first babies, because there are two leopard females and one male living here together and we don't know how the second female is going to react. Also the male leopard has become a bit inadequate, he picked up a cub and started carrying it around the enclosure, and even ripped the skin on his belly a bit. So we were scared and decided to feed the cubs ourselves. We know how to do it, we have lots of good experience feeding lion and tiger cubs," explained Yalta Zoo Director Oleg Zubkov.
The cubs are kept in a special warm room and bottle-fed every two hours with a special mix of goats' milk, eggs, honey and vitamins. Each baby consumes at least two litres of this mixture a day.
Oleg Zubkov said the zoo plans to keep all three cubs. The Yalta Zoo already has a large family of wild cats, but wants to increase it and hopes to make it the largest in Europe.
The zoo has a special "wild cats kindergarten,'' where tiger, lion and panther cubs play together. In a few months they will be joined by three young leopards. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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