00:00so yeah we're really pleased to announce that we've had a little snow like a cub she's a female
00:05uh she's been nicknamed little lady for the time being but we will be running a naming competition
00:11um but yeah she's she's growing really well i mean she had her first health check at five days old
00:17um i went in there at 12 days old as well to give her another health check yeah she's she's growing
00:23great she's got a nice full belly of milk which is important um mum is doing good so yeah we're
00:29really happy and this um this birth you in the lead up to it while um the mother was pregnant
00:36you were able to do some ultrasounds on it and i understand this is a little bit
00:39new compared to what's happened in the past yeah um it's a really good approach um our
00:46our lead um carer simon jackman at the big cat sanctuary he was working with leila to um
00:53make sure she was comfortable and we were doing it in the right way and then working alongside
00:57our vet bow um yeah we were able to do the ultrasound which was really effective and we're
01:02we're able to see that she was pregnant and then from there we kind of um it was really good for us
01:07a good opportunity for us to kind of get everything ready for leila and the cub um for the birth so
01:13yeah the team's done excellently i know ultrasounds aren't always the most comfortable thing for humans
01:19how did the mother react to having an ultrasound how did she find all of that
01:23yeah she was fine um you know simon's been working with her for years so she's completely comfortable
01:31um and obviously we shared a video to show that process we like to be as transparent as possible
01:36but also educate people on how we work with the cats under our care and yeah leila leila was great
01:41and it was it was a beautiful moment and a great one for the team to celebrate and this isn't leila's
01:48first cub is it no she's she's uh she's used to be in a mom now so she's had a it's a fourth litter um
01:56but it's so important for the endangered species breeding program so obviously her cubs have have
02:01gone off to wildlife institutions uh across europe um to help with that healthy captive population uh
02:09providing that critical safety net for their for their species and obviously we're working directly
02:13with snow leopard trust who are the main conservation um organization for snow leopards in the wild so
02:20yeah so it's a really really uh important thing to happen now if we were going to send some viewers
02:25down to the big cat sanctuary would we be able to see the little cub yet or do we need to wait a little
02:30bit longer to be able to to see to see her yeah so unfortunately you won't be able to see her yet
02:37we're only monitoring her through cctv cameras in the den um once she's had all of her vaccines and jabs
02:43then around three months uh is when she'll be taking her first steps outside with mum so um yeah
02:49we've got a little bit more time to wait but in the meantime we're going to be sharing stuff on social
02:53media um you know cute videos of of mum and cub um and just seeing her develop as well um you know
03:00they they grow very quick um and even just when i was in with her the other day doing a health check
03:06she um she's got razor sharp claws already they're like little needles um she's got a big full belly
03:12but yeah she's growing every day um but unfortunately three months is is around the
03:17time where she will be going outside for the first time well three months sounds like it'll take us to
03:21somewhere during the summer holiday so i'm sure that would be welcome news to some parents out there
03:26um you say she's growing already how big is she going to get do we know how much she weighs at the
03:30moment as well yeah um i mean when she's she's she's weighing around 1.1 kg roughly um but i mean
03:41that's changing every day because of of the milk that she's having um so yeah she's she's gonna get
03:46to about 40 kilograms when she's older potentially around that that weight so yeah a lot of growing to
03:52do but she's she's doing great um and you know we're working with her uh every single day and
03:59what's really that yarko uh the dad uh he's also in the den next door so he's able to keep a close eye
04:06and watch the cub develop which is really important and do you have any specific challenges when breeding
04:12snow leopards at places like the big cat sanctuary when they are in some form of captivity
04:17not necessarily challenges i think it's just um you know we've been doing this for 25 years now
04:24uh we're a center of excellence uh globally for for wildcats so it's we're used to this sort of thing
04:31you know we've we've had over around 30 cats over the last 25 years uh endangered species that we've
04:38cared for so it's it's just we've kind of built up that experience to know exactly how to how to manage
04:44cubs when when they're born um and it's something that we're continually developing obviously with
04:51the ultrasound is just a new another technique that we've added to our list of things that we're um
04:56yeah working on so we're in a good position and we're excited to support the breeding program moving
05:02forward i'm sure leila's doing a great job being a mom but what does the daily care look like from you
05:09for new guys as to keep us the ranges at the big cap sanctuary to to look after this newborn cub
05:17yeah it's literally just working um with the team um checking ccv cameras uh monitoring how they're
05:24getting on we let out mum a few times a day so she can go to the toilet and stretch her legs and have
05:29some food and then she'll go back in with cub and then every two to three days we'll go in with cub and
05:36just weigh the curve and make sure that she's growing and developing well and if there are any
05:40signs where we're um cautious that there might be an issue then we can call on call them of that team
05:46straight away and they'll come down but so far so good and and it's it's working out well well it
05:52sounds like it's a fantastic news for the sanctuary and i'm sure in a few months time when she makes
05:57those first steps and perhaps some lucky visitors might get to get their eyes on those and talking about
06:01the visitors who come i guess their important role in actually keeping successes like this alive
06:07because i mean i guess they're providing valuable memberships or donations to the big cat century
06:13yeah i mean it we wouldn't be here without the people that support us so we're in a an amazing
06:18position that we have so much um so many people from around the world uh you know in australia north
06:25america canada um and across europe that support the big sanctuary whether it's through memberships
06:31and donations and also uh becoming adopters which is really nice uh which will be for the cub
06:38available and probably in the next three months as well um so yeah we're in a we're in a good
06:42position and and that's because of the work we do uh for big cat conservation and also cat rescues
06:48well the next step now is going to be naming her i was having a quick think just while we're
06:53talking there she looks quite spotty so we could call her spotty but i feel like that you've
06:57probably got to have a leopard or something called spotty already i don't know is there any favorites
07:02going around the team at the moment um there's no favorites at the minute um we're i think we're
07:09going to correlate a lot of the uh options in the next few days and then we'll kind of like put our
07:16favorites there and then we'll put it to the public to vote so we're also going to put out there and
07:20people will be able to decide um the best name for the cub but our spotty is probably not what we're
07:27going to go with okay what are some of the other names of your cubs just so people get a little taste
07:33oh i know spotty is nice like but uh you know we have lines that we uh some of their names yeah you've
07:41got zuri azula and kasanga so uh very african-based um um not spotty yeah i mean to be fair like we
07:50have an asian golden cat called frank so you know who knows it might be spotty you know i can't we
07:56listen and we don't judge is is important so uh no spotty it could be it who knows well cam thank you
08:03so much for your time you're very welcome thanks guys
Comments