One of two snow leopard cubs born in an Ohio zoo in June is now on display.
A female cub named Dariga went on exhibit Monday with her family, according to a press release from the Toledo Zoo.
Dariga means surprise in the Kazakh language. She is said to be in good health and getting along well with her family.
The cub grew increasingly confident as she adjusted to the space Monday, particularly after her cautious mother also entered the exhibit.
Four-month-old snow leopard cub Dariga is pictured as she adjusts to being on display at the Toledo Zoo on Monday
Dariga and her brother were born on June 8. The zoo says the male cub was diagnosed with genetic anomalies.
The cub was born with several fused vertebrae in his spine, making his rear legs splay out, and giving him a flail chest.
‘As soon as we did the first exam, we knew there were issues,’ Toledo Zoo veterinarian Dr. Ric Berlinski told The Blade. ‘His chest was very flat from top to bottom and caused displacement of his heart.’
The cub’s team tried physical therapy but ultimately determined that the cub was in too much pain and needed to be euthanized.
The cubs were born to three-year-old mother Greta and four-year-old father Shishir.
‘Greta’s been an awesome mom from the get-go,’ keeper Trudy Kuhrt said. ‘She’s done everything right, and we couldn’t be more happy with how she’s been.’
Kuhrt said Dariga likes to play with her mother’s tail.
‘Mom’s really patient with her,’ she said. ‘She’ll play with her for quite a while, but if she needs a break, she’ll go up a little on a higher resting platform and take a break.’
Dariga weighs about 25lbs and is growing fast. She can already handle a vertical jump of 5 to 6 feet, while adults can leap 16 to 20 feet.
‘She’s very inquisitive,’ Berlinski said. ‘She likes to stalk, hunker down, then explode out at her enrichment. Snow leopards are ambush predators. She’s a pistol.’
Dariga will stay with her mother for 16 to 18 months before she is transferred elsewhere to have offspring of her own.
Greta and Shishir will be placed back together and allowed to mate once Dariga moves on.
Dariga’s mother Greta is pictured perched on a rock in her enclosure. Toledo zookeepers said that she is patient with Dariga but when she needs a moment alone she goes to higher ground
Dariga’s father Shishir is pictured letting out a big yawn in a photo on the Zoo’s Instagram
Dariga and her brother were born at the Zoo (pictured) in June. The male cub was euthanized
Both parents arrived at the Zoo last spring from Europe as part of a Species Survival Plan recommended move to breed and start a new bloodline in the United States snow leopard population.
‘As snow leopards are an endangered species with a declining population, we hope the community will enjoy watching the female cub grow as much as we do and learning more about conserving this amazing species through her development,’ Berlinski said in the press release.
Snow leopards are native to the mountains of central Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources lists them as endangered, due mainly to retaliatory killings for preying upon farmers’ livestock.
Zoo officials say climate change and human encroachment also pose threats to snow leopards’ survival in the wild.