Four Amur Leopard Cat cubs were born at Inokashira Park Zoo on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Their sexes are not yet known.

Her mother is "Mire" (born April 30, 2020 at Seoul Grand Park [South Korea], arrived at the park on November 4, 2021), and her father is "Tari" (born April 14, 2020 at Seoul Grand Park [South Korea], arrived at the park on November 4, 2021).

A young Amur Leopard Cat cat inside a nest box (Date of photo: May 2, 2023)	Amur Leopard Cat "Mille" (Date of photo: April 23, 2023)

Inokashira Park Zoo began keeping Amur Leopard Cat in August 2000 and has been working on their exhibition and breeding. In March 2014, they successfully performed the first artificial insemination on Amur Leopard Cat, resulting in the birth of two offspring (one was stillborn).

Subsequently, in November 2021, a pair was donated by Seoul, a sister city of Tokyo, to promote the captive breeding of endangered animals. In May 2022, four offspring were born from this pair. This marked the first natural breeding in 16 years, since 2006.

Therefore, we conducted a pairing experiment with the same pair this year, and mating was observed in February. On the morning of May 2nd, between just after 8:00 a.m. and around 10:30 a.m., we confirmed the birth of four cubs. This marks the second consecutive year that four Amur Leopard Cat have been born at our zoo.
The knowledge gained from this breeding program will be useful for conservation and breeding efforts of Tsushima Leopard Cat.

We will announce the details of the public viewing on Inokashira Park Zoo official website as soon as they are decided. Prior to the public viewing, we have been broadcasting live footage of the cubs on a monitor in the wildcat enclosure since May 18th (this may be suspended depending on the cubs' condition).

Current status of animal care at our zoo (as of May 12, 2023)
12 individuals (4 males, 4 females, 4 of unknown gender) *This includes the offspring born this time.

* Amur Leopard Cat is a subspecies of Leopard Cat that is widely distributed in Southeast Asia.
Among Amur Leopard Cat, the local population that inhabits only Tsushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture is called Tsushima Leopard Cat. In addition to the above, our zoo also keeps three Tsushima Leopard Cat (two males and one female).

Breeding situation in Japan (as of December 31, 2022)
5 zoos/aquariums, 14 animals (5 males, 9 females)
Source: 2022 Amur Leopard Cat Domestic Pedigree Registry [Japan Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums]

◎Related News

-Amur Leopard Cat gave birth via artificial insemination (April 10, 2014)
-Amur Leopard Cat giving birth, and what happened afterward (April 25, 2014)
​A pair of Amur Leopard Cat cats arrived from Seoul Grand Park (November 12, 2021).
-Amur Leopard Cat was born (June 2, 2022)
-We unveiled four Amur Leopard Cat cats born in May (October 25, 2022)

(May 17, 2023)