Granby Zoo announced the birth of two baby Amur leopards last week — an animal that’s on the world’s most endangered species list.
“Last Friday, our five-year-old female, Hope, as her name suggests, answered all our expectations when she gave birth for the first time to 2 cubs,” the zoo, located in Granby, Que., said in a statement on Tuesday.
The zoo said the mother gave birth naturally and her first cub was born at 2:40 a.m. and her second “showed its little face” hours later at around 4:54 a.m.
The feline mother is being kept in isolation with her two offspring with a round-the-clock surveillance camera so that zoo staff can make sure that all three are healthy.
The statement says the two babies are feeding well and “are quite vigorous.”
“This birth was highly anticipated by the entire team at the zoo, proactively collaborating with the protection of Amur leopards,” said the press release.
Amur leopards are classified as being critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).