Rare cloudy leopard kid born in Nashville Zoo, will be upset

The Nashville Zoo celebrates a special new addition to its family.

A rare cloudy leopard kid was born on July 18, announced the zoo on Instagram August 4th. The female kid is the 45th kid born in the zoo since 1991. She is “currently the size of a teddy bear”, weighs only 1 pound.

Due to the vulnerable status of the cloudy leopard species, the zoo said that the kid will be upset.

“Since the cloudy leopard population is in a steep decline, her survival is critical. After Aza (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) species survival plan (SSP) recommendation, we have chosen to trade her,” said zoo and invites visitors to “see her grow up through the windows”

Zoo explained in a press release such as hand breeding “prevents parental leadership or neglect, which is common for cloudy leopards, and allows this normally nervous species to be acclimated to the sights and sound of human interaction that is typical in an exhibition environment.”

“Hand rise also allows the zoo to pair kids at an early age,” the zoo. “Our research with breeding of cloudy leopards has revealed that mating at an early age significantly reduces aggression and enables more successful breeding pairs.”

The Instagram post on August 4 contained a series of photos of the newborn kid that explored her habitat and played with toys.

She is the third offspring of the parents’ jewels and Bruce, said the zoo. Jewels gave birth a male and female young In June 2022.

The Zoo also announced in its post that the recently welcomed a ten-week-old brother-sister cloudy leopard couple from Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas, according to Aza’s SSP recommendation.

“When the (new) kid is age, she will be introduced to the brother-sister couple and help them socialize,” said the zoo and added, “every kid counts when it comes to saving this vulnerable species.”

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On Friday August 8th the zoo shared a cute video On Instagram showing two cloudy leopard kids jumping around playing together. The clip was captions, “If you need us, we will look at this all day. 😻.”

The zoo estimates that about 10,000 cloudy leopards remain in nature. The rapid population decline for the species, which is native of the tropical lowlands in Southeast Asia, is due to creep protection, pet trade and deforestation.

The Tennessee plant, which has a total of 14 cloudy leopards in its care, is a leader in cloudy leopard preservation and breeding efforts.

Since 2000, the zoo has collaborated with zoos around the world to develop collaborative programs and field monitoring projects for cloudy leopards in Thailand as part of the cloudy leopard consortium.

Cloudy leopards are difficult to breed in captivity because they “are sensitive to hearing and visual disturbances, which increases the stress levels under captivity programs”, said the zoo, noting that it works with artificial insemination specialists to “increase the size and diversity” in the captured population.

Zoo’s latest cloudy Leopard Cub -Birth came more than three months after a female kid at the facility died due to bowel bleeding April 4th.

After her birth on February 25, she captured national media attention and helped to gather thousands of dollars for conservation efforts through a competition to choose their name.

“This kid represented a proud performance for us and a hopeful future for its species,” said Nashville President and CEO Rick Schwartz after her death. “She caught the hearts of millions of people, and we are completely destroyed.”