There’s a new snow leopard cub padding around the Bronx Zoo, and visitors can now see her in the Himalayan Highlands exhibit.
Sarka, a female cub born on May 31 in the Bronx, New York, is the offspring of Dariga and Moutig. The Wildlife Conservation Society said she is now exploring the zoo’s snow leopard habitat after passing physical exams and routine vaccinations.
“The female cub is doing well and has now reached the age she can venture with her mother into the Himalayan Highlands exhibit,” the zoo wrote in a recent social media post.
“According to her keepers, she is enjoying exploring the habitat as well as seeing snow leopards in the neighboring exhibits. We currently have eight snow leopards here at the zoo.”
The zoo said Sarka’s name means “shark” in Nepali.
In a press release, the zoo described snow leopards as well adapted to high-altitude habitats in the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau in Asia.
“They have a spotted white-gray coat that provides camouflage in their rocky mountainous habitat; large, padded feet that act as natural snowshoes; and long, woolly tails that provide warmth and balance as they navigate steep terrain,” the zoo wrote.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists snow leopards as “Vulnerable,” with an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 remaining in the wild across Asia.
According to the source material, the species faces threats from habitat degradation, declines in prey species, poaching, illegal trade, and retaliatory killing by livestock herders.
The Wildlife Conservation Society said the Bronx Zoo was the first zoo in the United States to exhibit snow leopards in 1903. It said field biologist George Schaller led surveys on wild snow leopards in the 1970s and 1980s that helped build the scientific foundation for conservation of the species.
“Building on 55 years of work protecting the species across Asia, WCS today supports these big cats and their mountain ecosystems in Mongolia, home to the world’s second-largest snow leopard population, and in Afghanistan, where WCS is the only international NGO working to conserve the species,” the organization explained.
“These efforts include community outreach and governance building, protected area development and management, ongoing monitoring using camera traps and satellite collars, and anti-poaching and anti-trafficking initiatives.”
The Bronx Zoo said it has recorded more than 80 snow leopard births since 1903 and takes part in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program intended to enhance the genetic viability of the species.
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