Insanely Precious Clouded Leopard Quadruplets Born At Tacoma Zoo

[Judi Lynn]

Insanely Precious Clouded Leopard Quadruplets Born At Tacoma Zoo

These four cubs are so small they can still fit in the palm of a hand.

posted on May. 19, 2015, at 8:46 p.m.



They were born to mother Chai Li and father Nah Funon, who live at the zoo, on May 12.



The four little cubs are all healthy, the zoo reports.



More:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/ridiculously-cute-clouded-leopard-quadruplets-born-at-tacoma#.hgrDGa15B

[shenmue]

1. Squeeeeeeee!

[uppityperson]

2. Awwwww. Thanks for the notice. Here's direct link to the zoo and a video of them

I need to get over there this summer and check them out, thanks for the notice.

http://www.pdza.org/clouded-leopard-cubs/

[Judi Lynn]

7. Seeing them in motion is almost too cute to endure. Thank you. n/t

[Number9Dream]

9. Thanks for the link with video... beautiful creatures!

[Sanity Claws]

3. Why is the beautiful cub being bottle fed?

She should be nursed by her mother.
Are 4 cubs too many for her to nurse?

[Number9Dream]

10. I wondered that too

The link for the zoo states that they must be fed every 3 hours. Maybe that's why they're supplementing mom (?).

[ginnyinWI]

11. my guess is that

since they are endangered, they are taking no chances and supplementing what the mom has in the way of milk. And that way the cubs will be used to being handled and they can be closely watched for any medical problems that might come up.

edit: but that brings up another question: how would you separate the cubs from the mom, unless she was hand-raised herself?

[jmondine]

13. A friend of mine is an educator at Point Defiance. I passed on your question to her.

Here is her response:

"Cloudie moms almost always fail to adequately care for cubs in captive settings. We don't know why. These little ones stayed with mom for 24 hours and did nurse for a while, but once mom stopped demonstrating care, they were pulled to be hand raised. Our cloudie team includes one of the leading experts on cloudies in the world."

"Also, they are super shy naturally, and this socialization with people helps them be comfortable living in a zoo setting."

[freshwest]

14. Thanks, that is what I was wondering. Too bad they aren't in the wild, but... n/t

[okasha]

4. The Cute is strong in them!

Is the middle photo one of the parents,?

[Judi Lynn]

6. I have a feeling it's one or the other. The photos are all from the same zoo website. Beautiful! n/t

[okasha]

8. What a proud parent

of such little treasures!

[brer cat]

5. So adorable!

quadruple squeees.

[Hoppy]

12. Posted under pets?

[Divernan]

15. Point Defiance Zoo is leader in Clouded Leopard conservation

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is a recognized global leader in Clouded leopard conservation. Grants from the Dr. Holly Reed Conservation Fund support clouded leopard research, education and anti-poaching work in Southeast Asia.

Zoo staff make periodic trips to Thailand to help keepers at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo with a collaborative breeding project there.


"These cats are precious,” Goldfarb says. “Clouded leopards are endangered, and there is constant pressure on the species from poaching, habitat loss and other human-animal conflict.”


Clouded leopards are among the best climbers in the cat family & can hang from branches with their hind feet! Large paws provide a great grip on tree branches, and a long tail (up to 3 feet long) helps them balance. They can open their mouths wider than most other cats & have extremely long canine teeth. For this reason they are sometimes called the "modern day saber-toothed cat."

http://www.pdza.org/clouded-leopard-cubs/

[gopiscrap]

16. I live about 2 miles south of the zoo

I am going to have go see them.