Korkeasaari welcomes two Amur leopard cubs

Two Amur leopard cubs, a male and a female, have been born at Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki, Yle reports. The cubs are the first offspring of their parents and are now five weeks old.

Amur leopards are critically endangered, with an estimated 130 individuals remaining in the wild. The species lives in Russia’s Far East and northeastern China.

The zoo said the mother, who was giving birth for the first time, has been calm with the cubs. Keepers watched through a den camera as she went into the birthing enclosure. Two of three cubs were born alive.

At five weeks, the cubs weigh about 2.5 kilograms each. Keepers and veterinarians have examined them, weighed and dewormed them, fitted them with identification microchips and photographed their individual coat patterns.

The cubs are expected to begin showing curiosity beyond the den by the time they are two months old, although their mother is not yet allowing them outside. Their father does not take part in raising them, as leopards live alone outside the mating season.

Third partner proved successful

Korkeasaari has spent five years looking for a suitable mate for its male Amur leopard through a European zoo conservation programme. The first potential partner fought with him, while the second was too old. Breeding succeeded with the third female.

“This Amur leopard pair found a common understanding the second they were put together. They did not growl at each other even once, but mated for two to three days,” animal keeper Jonne Stenroth said in a zoo statement. The female became pregnant after their second introduction.

The male’s father is a rare wild-born breeding animal that was rescued injured from a protected area but could not be returned to the wild. It has only two male offspring born at Moscow Zoo, one of which was transferred to Korkeasaari in January 2021.

The species is threatened by poaching and animal diseases, as well as wildfires and construction projects that reduce its habitat.