About "Mire," Amur Leopard Cat cat

We regret to inform you that Mire, a female Amur Leopard Cat cat that was being kept at Inokashira Park Zoo, gave birth but has since died.

A dead Amur Leopard Cat

Newborn Amur Leopard Cat

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Inokashira Park Zoo cooperates with the Ministry of the Environment's Tsushima Leopard Cat conservation and breeding project, and has been raising Amur Leopard Cat cats, a subspecies of Tsushima leopard cat, since August 2000, working to improve exhibition and breeding techniques. To promote the captive breeding of rare animals, "Mire" and "Tari" arrived as a pair from Seoul, Tokyo, with which the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a sister city agreement, in November 2021, and successfully bred in 2022 and 2023.

This year, the two were placed together again, and mating was observed at the end of February. On April 28th, around 10 p.m., birth began, and three pups were born. To allow the mother and pups to settle down, direct observation was not conducted, and instead, nursing and care of the pups were monitored via surveillance cameras. However, on the morning of May 2nd, the caretaker found Mire collapsed and later confirmed her death. An autopsy revealed damage to her bladder and a fluid, believed to be urine, accumulated in her abdominal cavity. It is possible that pressure was applied to her bladder for some reason during childbirth, causing the damage.

The three newborn cubs are currently being hand-reared by veterinarians and zookeepers at the animal hospital. We will announce when they will be made available to the public on Inokashira Park Zoo official website.