ISLAMABAD: An orphaned snow leopard cub, Leo, from northern Pakistan is enjoying its first winter at the Bronx Zoo in New York. It was moved to the zoo last fall.
The 19-month-old snow leopard cub was feeling at home in his Zoo habitat that replicates the rocky mountainous region of his homeland, reported a private TV news channel.
It is Leo’s first NY winter and by the looks of things, he can pounce and roll around in the fluffy stuff with the best of the kids, who are enjoying Monday’s latest snowfall, which is the first real snow in its new home at the Bronx Zoo.
Leo was discovered in the remote Naltar Valley of Pakistan last year and Pakistan
invited the NY Zoo to raise the cub in the United States.
It is worthy of mentioning that snow leopards are among the world’s most endangered big cats.
Their present population is estimated about 7,000 in the remote mountains of Central Asia.
The Bronx Zoo has bred more than 70 snow leopards in captivity and Leo will eventually return to Pakistan once an appropriate facility can be built.
