Chester Zoo has announced the birth of a snow leopard.
The adorable cub is the first of its kind to be born at the zoo in its 94-year history and is a significant moment for snow leopard conservation.
First-time parents Nubra and Yashin were carefully matched together in 2024 as part of an international conservation breeding programme that’s working to ensure a healthy insurance population for the highly endangered species in the world’s leading zoos.
Mayukh Chatterjee said: The birth of a cub here in Chester, alongside our conservation work in the wild, is a powerful symbol of what we can achieve together to help these iconic big cats thrive long into the future.”
Snow leopards are classed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with as few as 4,000 now remaining in the wild.
Nicknamed the ‘ghosts of the mountains,’ the elusive big cats are found in the rugged, remote regions of Central Asia and the Himalayas.
Despite being known for living in desolate, harsh environments, they continue to face threats from habitat loss, climate change, poaching and retaliatory killings by farmers as they prey on livestock.
