Banham Zoo Snow leopard Cubs
They are so cute don’t you think and so important to the European Breeding Programme.
Banham Zoo’s three snow leopards cubs are ready to be introduced to the zoo’s summer visitors and are certain to be the most popular animals in the zoo this year.
These three 10 week old cubs are bound to prove a massive hit this summer at the Zoo, the two females and one male cub have passed their first medical check up and are ready to join the main purpose built snow leopard enclosure.
Staff have now prepared the ‘nursery area’ in the outside enclosure so that the cubs are able to access part of the zoos recently constructed “Province of the snow cat” which was opened by the zoo’s director Martin Goymour in April 2009.
Although slightly tentative at first the cubs are growing in confidence and have begun to explore their outside surroundings under the watchful gaze of mum Enif.
The cubs were born in May 2010 in a purpose built cubbing box. This was fitted with infrared CCTV cameras in all 4 corners, during their first few months this has allowed the staff and visitors unprecedented access to watch and monitor the cub’s progress, both audibly and visually, on a screen set up on the snow leopard house wall. Footage of the birth has now been placed on the zoo’s facebook page.
The cubs, although still tiny in comparison to mum, have been growing well and staff and visitors alike are looking forward to the next stage in their development as they learn to climb the rocky terrain of their enclosure just as they would in the wild.