Turtle Back Zoo Mourns Passing Of Rare Amur Leopard In N.J.

As the Turtle Back Zoo welcomes four new residents to Essex County, it also bids farewell to one of its most beloved animals.

On Friday, Essex County officials announced that Solnce, one of the zoo’s Amur leopards, passed away at the age of 13 from renal failure.

Believed to be the rarest of the big cats, there are only about 70 remaining Amur leopards in the wild, zoo officials stated.

“Solnce came to Turtle Back in 2012 with another Amur Leopard, Tara, as part of the Species Survival Program (SSP) developed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,” zoo staff stated on a social media post announcing the big cat’s passing. “We hoped the pair would breed to help raise awareness around this critically endangered species. Unfortunately, Solnce suffered from a unique blood affliction that resulted in renal failure.”

“While we are hopeful that the SSP will bring us another male Amur leopard, nobody could ever take the place of Solnce,” zoo staff continued. “Our keepers (and many of our visitors, we are sure) are heartbroken. The Zoological Society of New Jersey, the non-profit that supports Turtle Back Zoo, is making a donation of $500 in Solnce’s name to ALTA: the Amur Leopard & Tiger Alliance, whose mission is to protect the Amur leopard and tiger and their habitat. 100% of all donations go to ALTA’s field projects.”

Learn more about ALTA here.

The big cat was part of the zoo’s Southeast Asia exhibit, which also includes another endangered animal, the red panda.

The sad news of Solnce’s passing comes just three days after the zoo celebrated the public opening of a long-awaited, $7 million renovated exhibit featuring four Masai giraffes.

• See related article: Turtle Back Zoo Opens $7M Giraffe Exhibit In Essex County

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Photo: Turtle Back Zoo