Two Amur leopard cubs make debut at Brookfield Zoo Chicago
BROOKFIELD, Ill. (CBS, KYMA) - A pair of Amur leopard cub sisters prepared to make their official public debut and come face-to-face with visitors at Brookfield Zoo Chicago Friday.
The cubs had spent the previous weeks growing and bonding with their mother, Mina, behind the scenes.
Footage captured shows the sisters' brief introduction to the enclosure Thursday morning, which gave them a chance to acclimate ahead of their official move into the habitat the following day, a representative for the zoo told Storyful.
According to Brookfield animal care experts, Amur leopards are the world's rarest big cat, and are agile, stealthy climbers, able to climb rocky ledges and trees to hunt prey and keep an eye on potential threats.
"The cubs are bold, curious and love to climb, already getting comfortable on the upper rocks in their new habitat," Racquel Ardisana, Associate Director of Carnivore Care and Conservation at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, said. "There are a lot of new sights, sounds and scents for them to take in. When one initially came to explore the habitat's ground level, she hissed while pawing at the grass – a texture she's seeing for the first time!"
The zoo said "fans won't have to wait long" to find out the sisters' names, which would be revealed on social media.
