What:
Woodland
Park Zoo Animal Health staff will administer a full health evaluation,
including physical examination, blood testing and radiographs, on a
3-year-old female snow leopard. The feline arrived this spring from
the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls. Animal patients at Woodland
Park Zoo receive excellent medical care and this standard also applies
to new arrivals. The snow leopard is currently living at the zoo’s
Animal Health hospital for a standard 30-day quarantine period before
entering the zoo’s snow leopard exhibit. There she will join
two other snow leopards: a 14-year-old female and another recent arrival,
a 2-year-old male originally from Los Angeles Zoo.
When:
Tuesday, May 6, 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Where:
Woodland Park Zoo Animal Health Complex. Enter through the South Entrance parking
lot at N. 50th St. and Fremont Ave. N. Drive straight through the road that
winds north of the Rose Garden. The Animal Health Complex is the first building
on the left.
Info:
Woodland Park Zoo has a long history of snow leopard care, both with the North
American population and with conservation efforts in the wild. As recommended
under the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan (SSP), coordinated by the Association
of Zoos & Aquariums, 28 cubs have been born at the zoo since the 1970s.
The cubs have been sent to zoos worldwide to help diversify the genetic composition
of the managed population. This new female is recommended to breed with WPZ’s
young male snow leopard by the SSP.
Snow leopards are endangered in their wild mountainous habitats in Central Asia
and Russia – there may be as few as 4,000 remaining in the wild. The Snow
Leopard Trust (SLT) was created in 1981 by former WPZ staff member Helen Freeman.
Conservation biologist and WPZ Partner for Wildlife Dr. Tom McCarthy works with
the SLT to protect and learn more about these felines through comprehensive research
and innovative community-based conservation projects.
Accredited
by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland
Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting
international standards for zoos all over the world. Conservation,
education and excellent animal care are at the core of the zoo’s
mission. The zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in
Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow
leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles
and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring people to care and
act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s
future.
