Amur leopard Dot with her cubs, Anya and Irina. (Photo by Jackie McGarrahan, Saint Louis Zoo)One of the world’s rarest cats has a new addition to the family.
Two Amur leopards, named Anya and Irina, were born last month at the Saint Louis Zoo. The female cubs are the first born at the zoo since 2010 and are a significant contribution to the animal’s population, the zoo said.
The Amur leopard is considered one of the most endangered cats in the world. The World Wildlife Fund says the animal is critically endangered, which means only around 100 remain in the wild.
The Amur leopard lives in the forests of the Russian Far East and northeast China, with a few possibly also in North Korea. The creatures are nocturnal, and they live and hunt alone.