The pair of Amur leopard cubs born at the San Diego Zoo on April 26 do not require any of the items a human baby needs.
And yet?
The longing to coo and cuddle the cats, a duo that just made their official public debut with the June 20 reopening of the zoo, remains high, as is our wish to know all about them, and how big they'll grow, and what they're like, and, oh, everything.
In short? These fresh photos of the frolicsome felines are giving us all the happy emotions.
The cuteness of these new pictures, shared by the zoo on June 22, is truly colossal, but even bigger is this fact: The Amur leopard is endangered, meaning the arrival of these little ones is most welcome news, indeed.
Learn more about the cubs, and their lives with their mother Satka, now.
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San Diego Zoo
"Guests at the reopened San Diego Zoo are getting a first look at two endangered Amur leopard cubs, born April 26, 2020, as they explore their outdoor habitat with mom, Satka. The cubs’ birth is particularly significant for their species, as fewer than 100 Amur leopards are believed to exist in their historic range in Russia and China."
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San Diego Zoo
"After their birth, the cubs spent most of their time in an indoor habitat with Satka. They started to emerge from their den at 20 days old,and had their first visit to the outdoor habitat 10 days later. They are now venturing out to explore with their mother daily. Satka can be seen monitoring the habitat, demonstrating her natural instincts to watch out for any potential threats to her cubs."
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San Diego Zoo
"The cubs are already showing natural behaviors of stalking and climbing. Wildlife care specialists observed one of the cubs climbing about four feet up a tree, before Satka brought the cub back to the ground."
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San Diego Zoo
"The cubs are climbing up on the rocks, they are getting into the trees, sometimes listening to mom and sometimes not," said Kelly Murphy, senior wildlife care specialist, San Diego Zoo. "Their personalities are still developing, and I’m looking forward to see what they become.”The cubs, who do not have names yet, will get their first hands-on veterinary exam this week, which will also reveal the sex of each cub." For more on the cubs' sweet story, and to check in on their check-ups, follow the San Diego Zoo's social pages.
