The Nashville Zoo welcomes a new clouded leopard cub
The Nashville Zoo family just grew by less than a pound and an adorable eight inches.
The zoo welcomed its latest addition, a clouded leopard cub on Sept. 7, making it the 43rd cub born at the zoo since 2009. The cub is the second litter for mated pair Niran (female) and Ron (male) and is currently adjusting to the world behind the scenes until it is moved to the zoo's HCA Healthcare Veterinary Center in upcoming weeks.
The cub is still without a name, as it is still too early to determine its sex, said Hospital Manager Stephen Wancea. However, the cub is lovingly being referred to as a she for the time being.
"At this stage, it's very hard to tell," said Wancea. "I'm just it calling a girl because we wanted a boy and her mother, Niran, has only ever produced females."
Niran is somewhat of an icon. She was the Nashville Zoo's first clouded leopard to be born from artificial insemination.
Including the newborn cub, the zoo currently has four cubs - one male and two females. Of the four, one female will be paired with one male, leaving the zoo staff hopeful the newborn is a male and may be paired with the other female, typically around the time it is six months old.
Until then, the cub and friends can be seen play fighting and stumbling about via the zoo's nursery camera at nashvillezoo.org.
Nashville: A leader in clouded leopard conservation
It's been a busy few weeks at the zoo.
Last month, it added both a male clouded leopard cub and banded civet kit as part of continuous conservation efforts. According to an official release, the Nashville Zoo was chosen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Clouded Leopard Species Survival Plan to oversee the upbringing and eventual pairing of the cubs due to its status as a national leader in clouded leopard breeding and care.
"We are thrilled to introduce these genetically diverse cubs to each other early in their lives," said Nashville Zoo's Director of Veterinary Services, Heather Schwartz. "They will stay in the nursery until they are old enough to be paired and moved to larger habitats here at the Zoo."
The new cub makes it the 43rd cub to be hand raised at the zoo, by Schwartz herself. The leopards, said Wancea, are very near and dear to Schwartz's heart.
"We're (Nashville Zoo) the go-to people for hand raising," he said. "Because of her (Schwartz) work with them, it is now the recommendation to hand raise them."
In the wild, clouded leopards are very elusive cats said Wancea. They hide, avoiding people and loud noises. Taking an animal such as that and immediately placing them in the middle of a metropolis causes them stress.
"In hand raising them, they make much better cats. They're comfortable," said Wancea. "They're used to people they're used to sounds. They don't get freaked out and then they breed better."
A species vulnerable to extinction
Despite their upbringings in captivity, the leopards are still wild animals.
They have the largest canine to skull ratio than any other felid on the planet. Their canine composes 30% of their skull in comparison to other big cats, making clouded leopards the closest modern day felid to a saber toothed tiger.
Because they are arboreal animals, spending most of their days in trees, the leopard are able to rotate their bodies a full 90 degrees.
"They rotate all the way around and climb up and down these trees," said Wancea. "So they're cool, cool animals, and they're also beautiful."
The leopards, which are native to the tropical lowlands of Southeast Asia are considered vulnerable to extinction according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature .
Deforestation, poaching and pet trade threaten their livelihood in their natural habitats. The leopards are some of the most rare and elusive big cat species in the world, however research estimates there less than 10,000 of them in the wild, said the zoo.
Diana Leyva covers breaking and trending news for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Zoo birth of clouded leopard cub; how to watch it
