Rare Amur Leopard Cub Born at Copenhagen Zoo

Visitors to Copenhagen Zoo must wait two months to see a new leopard cub. The rare Amur leopard cub was born at the zoo last week. Zoological director Mads Berthelsen called it the rarest leopard subspecies. Only about 110 Amur leopards currently live in the wild.

The newborn cub is currently small and blind. It relies completely on its mother for survival. The mother stays with the cub almost constantly. She only leaves her stable for short periods to find food. Zookeepers are keeping their distance from the animals for now. They monitor the cub's growth by listening to stable sounds.

The zoo wants to give the mother and cub complete peace. It will take two months or more before the cub comes outside. According to the Zims database, 190 Amur leopards live in zoos worldwide. These include 93 males and 97 females. Only one Amur leopard cub was registered globally in the past year.

Berthelsen noted that many zoos avoid breeding these leopards. Zoos worry about managing surplus offspring in captivity. In the wild, Amur leopards live mainly in southeastern Russia. Their forest home ranges from minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. Copenhagen Post reported the birth based on a zoo press release.