On May 25, 2011, Snow Leopard cub was born at Tama Zoo. The mother is Mayu (12 years old) and the father is Chingiz (estimated to be 21 years old). This is Mayu's fourth birth.

Snow Leopard give birth in a box called a birthing box, so it's impossible to see what's happening inside from the outside. Therefore, we've installed a surveillance camera in the birthing box and are monitoring it on a screen. Mayu had started to retreat into the birthing box, so I went to Snow Leopard enclosure hoping that she had given birth, only to be disappointed several times by the same footage as the day before. On the morning of May 25th, when my hopes were starting to fade, I spotted two small black lumps next to Mayu on the monitor.

"They've been born, and not just one, but two!" Snow Leopard are said to give birth to two or three cubs at a time, but Mayu had given birth to two in 2005, one in 2007, and one in 2008, so I thought she wasn't an individual that gave birth to many cubs. However, this time there were two. I was relieved that they had been born safely, and since both mother and cubs seemed calm, I decided to leave them alone. But when I looked at the monitor again, another one was wriggling out from between Mayu's hind legs. It was triplets!

I was a little worried about Mayu, who had only ever raised one or two puppies before, taking on three, but Mayu is a veteran. She's properly nursing all three, licking them, and taking good care of them. Thanks to her efforts, the puppies, which I can see on the monitor, are growing well.

To identify them individually using the monitor, we tentatively named them "Monyoko," "C-chan," and "Long Girl" based on the patterns on their backs (see photo on the right).

After giving birth, Mayu seemed wary, but on June 6th she returned to her normal self, so we let her out into a private exercise area, and while she was there we determined the sex of the pups. All three pups had their eyes open, and when we picked them up they made loud "Gweh-gweh" noises that made us wonder where such a loud voice was coming from in their tiny bodies. The sex determination revealed that "Monyoko" and "C-chan" are females, and "Nagai-ko" is a male.

The triplets have been on display on a monitor screen in Snow Leopard enclosure since June 10th. The video is streamed in real time, but depending on the cubs' health, it may be replaced with a recorded video. We appreciate your understanding. Their debut in the exercise area is scheduled for about two months from now.

Also, we are accepting name suggestions for the triplets for one week, from Friday, June 10th to Friday, June 17th, 2011. This year, we would like to name them after mountains from "Japan's 100 Famous Mountains," so please give the triplets some wonderful names.

・ Regarding the name submission Please also see this article.

Photo above: Snow Leopard triplets
Top center photo: "Monyoko"
Photo center bottom: "C-chan"
Photo below: "The long child"

[Tama Zoo South Garden Animal Care and Exhibition Staff, Satomi Takamura]

(June 10, 2011)