For the first time in its history, a litter of three snow leopard cubs have been born at the Akron Zoo. This is the third litter born to the zoo’s female Snow Leopard Shanti, but her first set of triplets!
The previous two litters, in 2012 and 2014, each consisted of two cubs.
The three cubs, born March 5, 2016, are currently off exhibit in a private cubbing area with their mother. A naming contest will be announced in a few weeks.
Snow leopards are an endangered species and a part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP). These cubs mark the first snow leopards born in the U.S. at an AZA accredited zoo this year.
The cubs will remain indoors until they go into their exhibit, most likely at the end of May or early June. The cubs currently weigh about 4 pounds; at birth they weighed about a pound each. At two weeks old, the cubs opened their eyes, and now at four weeks old, they are starting to move around and become mobile.
The cubs’ father, Roscoe, will be on exhibit every day until Shanti and the cubs start to go out onto exhibit. As in the wild, the father does not participate in the rearing process and will not have direct contact with the cubs.
