An endangered clouded leopard is a new mom, giving birth to three cubs at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.
The leopard, 3-year-old Sang Dao, gave birth to the cubs Wednesday. She was mated with Tien, also 3.
“The birth of these cubs is another crucial step in increasing the number of clouded leopards in the Species Survival Plan,” Zoo General Curator Karen Goodrowe Beck said in a statement.
The cubs are being bottle-fed and will be hand-reared by zoo staff. They do not yet have names. The zoo will announce in a few weeks how and when they will be named and when visitors will be able to see them.
The species lives in Southeast Asia. The zoo says clouded leopards are under pressure in the wild from human encroachment and destruction of their habitat, as well as poaching. It’s unclear how many still exist in the wild.
