Two endangered Amur leopard cubs born at Illinois zoo
COAL VALLEY, Ill. (Gray News) – An Illinois zoo is celebrating after the successful births of two endangered cubs.
Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois, announced the birth of the Amur leopard cubs in a Facebook post Tuesday.
Fewer than 100 individual Amur leopards exist in the wild and it is the most critically endangered big cat in the world, according to the zoo.
The zoo says there have been only seven others born in the U.S. in 2021.
The Niabi Zoo partnered with the Amur Leopard Species Survival planning group in 2019.
The zoo received and housed one of several Amur Leopards brought over from zoos in Europe to breed with its male Amur leopard “Jilin.” The zoo eventually received “Iona” from the Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens in Great Britain in July 2021.
The zoo said a third cub was born, but only lived a few days. The two surviving cubs, a male and female, are fortunately thriving.
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