Photo:VCG
Cottbus Zoo in eastern Germany has achieved an important breeding success with Chinese leopards and on Thursday it informed the public of the recent birth of twin leopards.
Chinese leopards have lived at Cottbus Zoo for decades and the zoo has already bred them successfully in the past. But with the first birth of a new breeding pair, it was "particularly nice when everything went well," Jens Kammerling, director of the Cottbus Zoo, told the Niederlausitz Aktuell, a regional online news platform.
The two cubs are six weeks old and do not yet have names, as it was only discovered last week that the twins are both males, according to Kammerling. This particular species of leopard with a very thick fur originates from northern China, where it gets very cold in winter.
"As is typical for leopards, the cubs have spent their first weeks completely undisturbed in the birthing den and are now beginning to explore their surroundings and also the outdoor enclosure," the zoo said in a statement.
Chinese leopards are a subspecies that is severely threatened in the wild due to habitat loss and hunting, according to the zoo.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the zoo is currently closed so that no visitors can actually see the twins.