STONEHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A pair of playful snow leopard cubs made their debut at the Stone Zoo on Friday.
Pandora and Naphisa, both of which are female, reside in the Himalayan Highlands exhibit with their first-time mom, Kira.
“The cubs are full of energy, exceptionally curious and quite rambunctious,” Assistant Curator Pete Costello said in a press release. “It’s going to be a lot of fun for our visitors to watch these playful cubs explore the exhibit.”
The two cubs, who currently weigh 9.9 and 10.3 pounds, were born on May 16 to Kira, a 9-year-old female snow leopard, and Himal, a 9-year-old male who arrived from the Denver Zoo this past winter.
Since birth, the cubs have been bonding with their mother in their nest box behind the scenes. Newborn cubs are entirely dependent on their mothers and in the wild do not leave the protection of their dens until about three months of age, the zoo said.
With their thick, cream-colored coats and gray-black spots, snow leopards camouflage so well within their rocky habitat high in the Himalayas that they are known as the “ghosts of the mountains.”
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