Bottle-fed baby leopards make debut at Washington zoo
Four clouded leopard cubs are now on display at a Tacoma, Washington, zoo.
The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium will announce their genders and names next week. The 3-week-old cubs have gained about one pound apiece with regular bottle feedings, and now weigh about 1.7 pounds each.
Visitors can watch them be bottle fed at the Cub Den in the Cats of the Canopy exhibit.
The quadruplets were born May 12.
The News Tribune reports about 90 clouded leopards live in 25 North American facilities. It's unknown how many clouded leopards exist in the wild because they're elusive and hard to track.
The Defenders of Wildlife website says the medium-sized cat is named for the large cloud-like spots on its body, which provide camouflage in its forest habitat.
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One of four clouded leopard cubs currently at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is fed formula from a bottle, Friday, June 5, 2015 by a staff biologist at the zoo in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
Four clouded leopard cubs, some nearly asleep after a feeding, gather together at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
Two of the four clouded leopard cubs currently at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, lie on a towel Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
Andy Goldfarb, a staff biologist at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, plays with one of the four clouded leopard cubs currently at the zoo Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
Andy Goldfarb, a staff biologist at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, plays with one of the four clouded leopard cubs currently at the zoo Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
One of the four clouded leopard cubs currently at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, is fed formula from a bottle by staff biologist Shannon Smith, Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) -
Children smile as staff biologists feed and care for two of the four clouded leopard cubs currently at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Friday, June 5, 2015 in Tacoma, Wash. The quadruplets were born on May 12, 2015 and now weigh about 1.7 lbs. each. Friday was their first official day on display for public viewing, usually during their every-four-hours bottle-feeding sessions, which were started after the cubs' mother did not show enough interest in continuing to nurse them. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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Bottle-fed baby leopards make debut at Washington zoo (2015, June 5)
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