Miller Park Zoo introduces two new snow leopard cubs

Posted on May 28, 2015
Miller Park Zoo snow leopards
Jonathan Reding and Jay Tetzloff of the Miller Park Zoo introduced two new female snow leopard cubs born earlier this month. (Joe Ragusa/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Two new snow leopard cubs are on display at the Miller Park Zoo.

The female cubs were bred as part of the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan. Bloomington Parks and Recreation Director Jay Tetzloff is coordinator of that program, which manages snow leopards at 68 zoos across North America.

Tetzloff said zoo staff noticed early on that the mother wasn’t very attentive to the cubs.

“We felt it was in the cubs best interest and welfare to pull them for hand-raising,” Tetzloff said. “We’ve had staff here pretty much around the clock taking care of the two female snow leopards.”

The naming rights for the two cubs will be auctioned off during Zoo Do, the zoo’s annual fundraiser Sept. 12. The cubs will be on display until Fall 2016, when they’ll be transferred to another zoo.

There are less than 7,000 of the endangered species left in the wild and only one other zoo in North America has announced a successful litter of snow leopards in 2015.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…