Colorado Springs’s Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomed a pair of Amur leopard cubs last Wednesday, adding to the population of one of the most endangered species in the world.
Amur leopards have been on the list of critically endangered animals since 1996 and are the rarest of big cat species, with only 100 or so estimated to be still alive, primarily in eastern Russia and western China, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The births are the first in nearly 20 years of the leopards at the zoo, which is a participant in the Amur Leopard Species Survival Plan, according to a press release. The Denver Zoo also saw an Amur cub named Sochi born in 2013.
