There's a new addition at The Big Cat Sanctuary

KentOnline / KMTV

A new snow leopard cub has been born at the sanctuary in Smarden and The big cat sanctuary is now asking visitors to help decide her name.   Gabriel Morris spoke with Cam Whitnall to find out more.

Transcript

00:00so yeah we're really pleased to announce that we've had a little snow like a cub she's a female

00:05uh she's been nicknamed little lady for the time being but we will be running a naming competition

00:11um but yeah she's she's growing really well i mean she had her first health check at five days old

00:17um i went in there at 12 days old as well to give her another health check yeah she's she's growing

00:23great she's got a nice full belly of milk which is important um mum is doing good so yeah we're

00:29really happy and this um this birth you in the lead up to it while um the mother was pregnant

00:36you were able to do some ultrasounds on it and i understand this is a little bit

00:39new compared to what's happened in the past yeah um it's a really good approach um our

00:46our lead um carer simon jackman at the big cat sanctuary he was working with leila to um

00:53make sure she was comfortable and we were doing it in the right way and then working alongside

00:57our vet bow um yeah we were able to do the ultrasound which was really effective and we're

01:02we're able to see that she was pregnant and then from there we kind of um it was really good for us

01:07a good opportunity for us to kind of get everything ready for leila and the cub um for the birth so

01:13yeah the team's done excellently i know ultrasounds aren't always the most comfortable thing for humans

01:19how did the mother react to having an ultrasound how did she find all of that

01:23yeah she was fine um you know simon's been working with her for years so she's completely comfortable

01:31um and obviously we shared a video to show that process we like to be as transparent as possible

01:36but also educate people on how we work with the cats under our care and yeah leila leila was great

01:41and it was it was a beautiful moment and a great one for the team to celebrate and this isn't leila's

01:48first cub is it no she's she's uh she's used to be in a mom now so she's had a it's a fourth litter um

01:56but it's so important for the endangered species breeding program so obviously her cubs have have

02:01gone off to wildlife institutions uh across europe um to help with that healthy captive population uh

02:09providing that critical safety net for their for their species and obviously we're working directly

02:13with snow leopard trust who are the main conservation um organization for snow leopards in the wild so

02:20yeah so it's a really really uh important thing to happen now if we were going to send some viewers

02:25down to the big cat sanctuary would we be able to see the little cub yet or do we need to wait a little

02:30bit longer to be able to to see to see her yeah so unfortunately you won't be able to see her yet

02:37we're only monitoring her through cctv cameras in the den um once she's had all of her vaccines and jabs

02:43then around three months uh is when she'll be taking her first steps outside with mum so um yeah

02:49we've got a little bit more time to wait but in the meantime we're going to be sharing stuff on social

02:53media um you know cute videos of of mum and cub um and just seeing her develop as well um you know

03:00they they grow very quick um and even just when i was in with her the other day doing a health check

03:06she um she's got razor sharp claws already they're like little needles um she's got a big full belly

03:12but yeah she's growing every day um but unfortunately three months is is around the

03:17time where she will be going outside for the first time well three months sounds like it'll take us to

03:21somewhere during the summer holiday so i'm sure that would be welcome news to some parents out there

03:26um you say she's growing already how big is she going to get do we know how much she weighs at the

03:30moment as well yeah um i mean when she's she's she's weighing around 1.1 kg roughly um but i mean

03:41that's changing every day because of of the milk that she's having um so yeah she's she's gonna get

03:46to about 40 kilograms when she's older potentially around that that weight so yeah a lot of growing to

03:52do but she's she's doing great um and you know we're working with her uh every single day and

03:59what's really that yarko uh the dad uh he's also in the den next door so he's able to keep a close eye

04:06and watch the cub develop which is really important and do you have any specific challenges when breeding

04:12snow leopards at places like the big cat sanctuary when they are in some form of captivity

04:17not necessarily challenges i think it's just um you know we've been doing this for 25 years now

04:24uh we're a center of excellence uh globally for for wildcats so it's we're used to this sort of thing

04:31you know we've we've had over around 30 cats over the last 25 years uh endangered species that we've

04:38cared for so it's it's just we've kind of built up that experience to know exactly how to how to manage

04:44cubs when when they're born um and it's something that we're continually developing obviously with

04:51the ultrasound is just a new another technique that we've added to our list of things that we're um

04:56yeah working on so we're in a good position and we're excited to support the breeding program moving

05:02forward i'm sure leila's doing a great job being a mom but what does the daily care look like from you

05:09for new guys as to keep us the ranges at the big cap sanctuary to to look after this newborn cub

05:17yeah it's literally just working um with the team um checking ccv cameras uh monitoring how they're

05:24getting on we let out mum a few times a day so she can go to the toilet and stretch her legs and have

05:29some food and then she'll go back in with cub and then every two to three days we'll go in with cub and

05:36just weigh the curve and make sure that she's growing and developing well and if there are any

05:40signs where we're um cautious that there might be an issue then we can call on call them of that team

05:46straight away and they'll come down but so far so good and and it's it's working out well well it

05:52sounds like it's a fantastic news for the sanctuary and i'm sure in a few months time when she makes

05:57those first steps and perhaps some lucky visitors might get to get their eyes on those and talking about

06:01the visitors who come i guess their important role in actually keeping successes like this alive

06:07because i mean i guess they're providing valuable memberships or donations to the big cat century

06:13yeah i mean it we wouldn't be here without the people that support us so we're in a an amazing

06:18position that we have so much um so many people from around the world uh you know in australia north

06:25america canada um and across europe that support the big sanctuary whether it's through memberships

06:31and donations and also uh becoming adopters which is really nice uh which will be for the cub

06:38available and probably in the next three months as well um so yeah we're in a we're in a good

06:42position and and that's because of the work we do uh for big cat conservation and also cat rescues

06:48well the next step now is going to be naming her i was having a quick think just while we're

06:53talking there she looks quite spotty so we could call her spotty but i feel like that you've

06:57probably got to have a leopard or something called spotty already i don't know is there any favorites

07:02going around the team at the moment um there's no favorites at the minute um we're i think we're

07:09going to correlate a lot of the uh options in the next few days and then we'll kind of like put our

07:16favorites there and then we'll put it to the public to vote so we're also going to put out there and

07:20people will be able to decide um the best name for the cub but our spotty is probably not what we're

07:27going to go with okay what are some of the other names of your cubs just so people get a little taste

07:33oh i know spotty is nice like but uh you know we have lines that we uh some of their names yeah you've

07:41got zuri azula and kasanga so uh very african-based um um not spotty yeah i mean to be fair like we

07:50have an asian golden cat called frank so you know who knows it might be spotty you know i can't we

07:56listen and we don't judge is is important so uh no spotty it could be it who knows well cam thank you

08:03so much for your time you're very welcome thanks guys

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