A critically endangered Amur leopard cub is growing strong in South Bend
A male cub born September 8 at the Potawatomi Zoo is being hand-reared around the clock. About 100 Amur leopards remain in the wild.
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A male Amur leopard cub born September 8 at the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend is growing under round-the-clock care, WNDU reported. His mother, Anastasia, was raising a cub for the first time, and his father is Mango. The cub is not named yet. Anastasia showed some mothering. Staff and the veterinarian still chose to hand-rear him, with people on duty through the first weeks. He is healthy and putting on strength.
About 100 Amur leopards remain in the wild, in a small part of the Russian Far East, and about 200 live in zoos. Executive director Josh Sisk said the cub is part of the Species Survival Plan, and the zoo expects to place him at another zoo when he is ready. The birth does not change the wild count. It adds one animal the plan can count on.
For the classroom
The Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana, has a new Amur leopard cub. He was born on September 8 to Anastasia, a first-time mother, and Mango. He does not have a name yet. Anastasia did some of the mothering, and keepers and the veterinarian decided he would grow better with people caring for him day and night. He is getting stronger. About 100 Amur leopards still live in the wild, in the Russian Far East, and about 200 live in zoos. The zoo plans to send him to another zoo when he is old enough.
- Why might keepers raise a cub by hand even if the mother is nearby?
- Why does a zoo birth matter when so few of these leopards are left?
- What would you want to learn about a cub before giving him a name?
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