Rare snow leopard twins born in Qinghai
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E-mail Xinhua, August 14, 2014
A zoo on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau has successfully bred a pair of snow leopard cubs, it announced on Wednesday.
The twins were born on June 14 in the Wildlife Park of Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, but the zoo authorities waited two months to announce the birth of the cubs due to fears that they might not survive their first two months, said Qi Xinzhang, deputy curator of the zoo.
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A pair of snow leopard cubs with their mother in the Wildlife Park of Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province on Wednesday, August 13, 2014. [Photo/Xinhhua] |
"The death rate of leopard newborns is very high in the first months after they are born. So it's an unwritten rule that we can only say the breeding program is a success after the cubs have emerged from the first two months in good health," said Qi.
The cubs are the first born of seven-year-old mother Er Bao and five-year-old father Ning Ning. Previously, the park successfully bred seven snow leopard cubs: three in 1984, a couple of twins in 1985 and another pair of twins in 2012.
"Snow leopards rarely care for newborns by themselves, and in 2012, the cubs were fed by our staff after they were born. But now with Er Bao feeding the newborns by herself, we can observe and study how a snow leopard brings up cubs. This is of great value for further artificial breeding programs," said Qi.
So far, the cubs have not faced any human contact for fear of disturbing them and the zoo doesn't even have any idea about their gender.
"We plan to introduce them to the public in the middle of September, when they are stronger and more bonded with their mother. Then, we can do a physical examination of the two and know their gender," said Qi.
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