Two rare Amur leopard cubs born

Two rare leopards have been shown off by keepers at a wildlife park in Kent.

Brother and sister Amur leopard cubs, Argun and Anuy, are now eight weeks old and playing without "a care in the world", their keeper said.

They were born in October at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Smarden, Kent, which supports rare and endangered big cats.

It is thought no more than 40 Amurs survive in the wild, the charity said. The leopards originate from Russia.

Mark Edgerley, who runs the centre, said the pair were beginning to become more confident and could often be seen playing together in their enclosure while their mother, three-year-old Xizi, looked on.

He said their father, Artur, six, was their biggest danger because of his lack of paternal instinct.

"Animals that are bred in captivity cannot just be let loose to fend for themselves"
Mark Edgerley

Adding that the cubs were like "little kittens", he said: "They chase straw and if they see a bit of sunlight falling on the ground they will go after that.

"They look as if they had not got a care in the world."

He said the cubs were still feeding from their mother but were starting to play with meat and bone and would eventually eat up to 18kg (40lb) of meat each week, including horse, calf and rabbit.

Amur leopards are under threat of extinction because of the burning of forests to make way for agricultural land in the Russian Far East, Mr Edgerley added.

He said there were about 140 Amur leopards living in a European breeding programme, but Argun and Anuy would never be released into the wild.

"Animals that are bred in captivity cannot just be let loose to fend for themselves. It won't be first-generation zoo animals that are released but second-generation ones," he said.

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