Cub’s birth follows other new baby animal additions at Zoo this season
John Ball Zoo is welcoming another exciting addition to the Zoo family with the birth of a snow leopard cub.
Parents Yuki, 3, and Mylo, 7, welcomed their female cub on Thursday, June 6. Yuki is a first-time mother and she and her cub are doing well.
“We’re so excited to welcome Yuki and Mylo’s cub, who is doing well and receiving attentive care behind the scenes at the Zoo,” said Jaime Racalla, animal care supervisor at John Ball Zoo. “John Ball Zoo is proud to help contribute to the conservation of snow leopards through strategic breeding and excellent animal care.”
Yuki came to John Ball Zoo from the Toledo Zoo in 2023, and Mylo joined John Ball Zoo in 2021 from the Toronto Zoo. The pair make a good genetic match for breeding, according to the Species Survival Plan Program through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, John Ball Zoo’s accrediting organization.
This year was Yuki and Mylo’s first breeding season, though John Ball Zoo has had several successful breeding snow leopard pairs in the past. The Zoo’s veterinary team utilized ultrasound training with Yuki, so they were able to check on her cub as her pregnancy progressed.
Snow leopards in the wild live in high mountain ranges in countries in central and south Asia. Due to poaching and climate change, snow leopards are a threatened species. John Ball Zoo is partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust, a conservation group, to protect this species, and with the Zoo’s support, the Trust has purchased a vehicle to allow greater access for field scientists.
For the next few weeks, Yuki and her cub will remain behind the scenes at John Ball Zoo. Racalla said Yuki has so far been a great and attentive mom to her cub, who looks active and well cared for. Mylo will continue to be out in the snow leopard habitat for Zoo guests to visit.
The birth of the snow leopard cub follows the recent birth of three lynx kits and the hatching of three penguin chicks.
