Newborn Leopard Cubs Make History, Melt Your Heart

PHOTOS: These 1-week old Clouded Leopard cubs are the first to be born by artificial insemination outside the United States. Photos of cubs courtesy of Smithsonian National Zoo.

______________

The Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. is practically handing out cigars this week over a scientific milestone: They’ve helped bring a litter of Clouded Leopard cubs into the world for the very first time by artificial insemination outside the United States.

It’s only the second time that a litter of clouded leopard cubs was born as the result of an artificial insemination, according to the National Zoo. The first and only other successful artificial insemination in clouded leopard was performed in 1992, by the late Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientist JoGayle Howard.

At the helm of the successful breeding and birthing of the cubs last week? Pierre Comizzoli, reproductive physiologist at the zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), who performed the artificial insemination in Thailand in March alongside Paweena Thuwanut, a former JoGayle Howard Postdoctoral Fellow at SCBI, and Wanlaya Tipkantha, a doctoral candidate at Chulalongkorn University, who also studied at SCBI.

The two cubs were born last Tuesday at the Khao Khew Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand.

The mother, Gra Ding, was not able to have cubs naturally, the zoo said. The two males the semen samples were collected from were identified as good genetic matches for Gra Ding. Genetic tests are being done to determine the father of the cubs. The zoo says it’s possible the cubs have different fathers.

“The birth of these two cubs is a major step forward,” said Comizzoli. “Clouded leopards have been incredibly challenging for us to breed, but this new technique means we have another tool to help keep the population genetically healthy and growing.”

Both cubs appear to be healthy and are doing well, according to the National Zoo. Keepers at Khao Khew Open Zoo are hand-raising them, because it produces a better survival rate, the zoo noted. Veterinarians have not determined the sex of the cubs.

Clouded leopards are listed as vulnerable in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is estimated that there are only about 10,000 left in the wild. Threats to the species include habitat fragmentation, deforestation and illegal wildlife trafficking.